The U.S.' crude oil inventories increased for the week ending Aug. 10, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) data showed Wednesday.
Commercial crude oil stocks rose by 6.8 million barrels, or 1.7 percent, to 414.2 million barrels last week, according to the EIA data.
The market expectation for the stocks was a decline of 2.5 million barrels.
Strategic petroleum reserves, which are not included in the commercial stocks, remained unchanged at 660 million barrels.
Gasoline stocks, on the other hand, fell by 0.7 million barrels, or 0.3 percent, to 233.1 million barrels for the week ending Aug. 10.
The market expectation for gasoline stocks was a decline of 0.6 million barrels.
- Crude oil production rises
The U.S.' crude oil production rose last week by 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 10.9 million bpd, according to the EIA data.
All of the increase came from the state of Alaska, while crude oil production in the other states remained unchanged from last week.
This marked the 27th time crude oil production in the U.S. showed an increase in the past 31 weeks.
The U.S.' crude oil production is expected to average 10.7 million bpd in 2018, and 11.7 million bpd in 2019, according to the EIA's Short-Term Outlook report for August.
By Ovunc Kutlu in New York
Anadolu Agency
ovunc.kutlu@aa.com.tr