By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com - U.S. crude stockpiles rose more than expected last week, the API reported Wednesday, but that did little to drown out bullish bets on $100-a-barrel oil as many believe escalating Ukraine-Russia tensions will disrupt global supplies.
West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, traded at $92.35 barrel on the news, after settling up 0.21% at $92.10 a barrel.
U.S. crude inventories increased by 6.0 million barrels for the week ended Feb. 17. That compared with a draw of 1.1 million barrels reported by the API for the previous week. Economists were expecting a build of about 767,000 barrels.
The API data also showed that gasoline inventories rose by 427,000 barrels last week, and distillate stocks declined by 985,000 barrels.
The official government inventory report due Thursday is expected to show weekly U.S. crude supplies increased by about 442,000 barrels last week.