By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com - U.S. crude stockpiles rose more than expected last week at a time when uncertainty over the supply outlook continued weigh on prices ahead of the OPEC+ Alliance's meeting later this week.
West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark traded at $83.06 a barrel on the news, after settling down 48 cents at $83.57 a barrel.
U.S. crude inventories increased by 3.6 million barrels for the week ended Oct. 22. That compared with a build of 2.3 million barrels reported by the API for the previous week. Economists were expecting a build of about 1.6 million barrels.
OPEC+ is expected to maintain its plans to gradually lift monthly production by 400,000 barrels per day despite pressure to ramp-up production to ease the energy crisis.
The API data also showed that gasoline inventories fell by 552,000 barrels last week, and distillate stocks increased by 573,000 barrels.
The official government inventory report due Wednesday is expected to show weekly U.S. crude supplies increased by about 2.2 million barrels last week.