Oil prices advanced on Thursday despite data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed an unexpected build in crude supplies.
Inventories of U.S. crude rose by 3.803 million barrels for the week ended July 27, confounding expectations for a draw of 2.794 million barrels, according to data from the EIA.
The report came as imports rose by about 1.352 million barrels a day (bpd) and exports fell by 1.373 million bpd, the EIA said.
Gasoline inventories – one of the products that crude is refined into – fell by 2.536 million barrels, topping expectations for a draw of 1.288 million barrels, while supplies of distillate – the class of fuels that includes diesel and heating oil – rose by 2.983 million barrels, against expectations for a build of 0.264 million barrels.
