Oil prices settled slightly higher on Wednesday even though official data showed a surprise increase in the US crude stockpiles.
US crude oil inventories rose by 2.2 million barrels to 429.7 million last week, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its weekly report on Wednesday. Analysts had expected a 1.1-million-barrel gain.
Gasoline stockpiles grew by 800,000 barrels for the week, while distillate stockpiles fell 2.6 million barrels, according to the EIA.
Meanwhile, weekly US crude oil production rose to nearly 10.6 million barrels a day, surging by more than a quarter since mid-2016, said the EIA.
Some analysts say the period of oversupply that started in 2014 has now ended due to supply disruptions and also strong demand.
The West Texas Intermediate for June delivery rose $0.35 to settle at $68.05 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for June delivery added $0.14 to close at $74.00 a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
--IANS
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