By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com -- U.S. crude inventory increased by much more than expected last week, the API reported Tuesday, keeping traders on guard for an upside surprise in Wednesday's official report from the U.S. Energy Department.
West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, traded at $90.54 a barrel following the report after settling down 0.3% at $90.50 a barrel.
U.S. crude inventories rose by 2.2 million barrels for the week ended Aug. 5. That compared with a build of 2.2 million barrels reported by the API for the previous week. Economists were expecting an increase of about 73,000 barrels.
The API data also showed that gasoline inventories fell by 627,000 barrels last week, and distillate stocks increased by 1.4 million barrels.
The official government inventory report due Wednesday is expected to show weekly U.S. crude supplies rose by about 73,000 barrels last week.