HOUSTON, March 27 (Xinhua) -- U.S. crude oil inventories increased in the week ending March 22, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a report on Wednesday.
According to the Weekly Petroleum Status Report, U.S. commercial crude oil inventories, excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, increased by 2.8 million barrels from the previous week.
The increase report defied market expectation which forecast a drawdown of 1.2 million barrels of crude oil inventories in the country. The surprising buildup of inventories implied weaker demand and more pressure on crude prices.
At 442.3 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories were about 2 percent below the five-year average for this time of year.
According to the EIA, U.S. total motor gasoline inventories decreased by 2.9 million barrels last week and were about 2 percent above the five-year average for this time of year.
Finished gasoline and blending components inventories both decreased last week. Distillate fuel inventories decreased by 2.1 million barrels last week and were about 5 percent below the five-year average for this time of year.
Propane/propylene inventories increased by 0.5 million barrels last week and were about 16 percent above the five-year average for this time of year.
Total commercial petroleum inventories in the country increased by 0.1 million barrels last week.
A week earlier, the EIA reported a draw of 9.6 million barrels, which bolstered up West Texas Intermediate (WTI) to touch the 60-U.S. dollar-per-barrel mark.
The weekly oil prices ended mixed for the week ending March 22, with the price of WTI for April delivery up 0.89 percent and Brent crude oil for May delivery down 0.19 percent. WTI and Brent have increased over 30 percent and nearly 25 percent, respectively, since the beginning of this year.
