Investing.com -- U.S. crude stockpiles swelled last week, the API reported Tuesday, marking the third-straight week of hefty gains, though product inventories including gasoline fell more than expected as U.S. refinery activity remains at near two-year lows.
Crude Oil WTI Futures, the U.S. benchmark, traded at $78.54 a barrel following the report after settling up 1.7% at $78.87 a barrel.
U.S. crude inventories rose by about 8.4 million barrels for the week ended Feb. 25, compared with a build of 7.2M barrels reported by the API for the previous week. Economists were expecting an increase of about 1.5M barrels.
The API data also showed that gasoline inventories fell by about 3.3M barrels, and distillate stockpiles fell by 523,000 barrels, compared with expectations for a draw of about 1.3M barrels and 2M barrels, respectively. The ongoing draw in product stockpiles has been spurred low domestic refinery activity amid maintenance and weather-related constraints.
The official government inventory report due Thursday is expected to show weekly U.S. crude supplies increased by about 1.8M barrels last week.