US weekly oil inventories rise by less than analysts expected

US oil inventories increased slightly last week but product stockpiles declined, putting added upward pressure on crude futures on Wednesday afternoon.

Commercial crude stockpiles grew by 1.3m barrels to reach 523.2m barrels in the week ending on 11 March, according to the Energy Information Administration, the US Department of Energy’s statistical arm.

Analysts had forecast a build of 3.2m barrels.

Gasoline stockpiles on the other hand fell by 700,000 barrels and those for distillate fuels by 1.1m barrels.

Imports of crude oil dropped by 355,000 barrels per day last week, as refineries operated at 89.0% of their capacity.

As of 14:48GMT front month West Texas Intermediate crude futures were rising by 3.684% to $37.73 per barrel on the ICE.