U.S. Crude Oil Futures Update

U.S. crude oil futures declined during post-settlement trading on Tuesday after the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported an unexpected rise in domestic inventories.

Crude Oil WTI Futures, the U.S. benchmark, were recently trading at $71.51 a barrel after settling up 0.7% at $71.99 a barrel.

According to the API, U.S. crude inventories increased by about 3.1 million barrels for the week ending November 1, contrasting with a draw of 573,000 barrels reported for the previous week. Economists had anticipated a rise of approximately 1.8 million barrels.

Gasoline stockpiles decreased by around 928,000 barrels, while distillate inventories, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 852,000 barrels.

The official government inventory report is expected on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. EST (1530 GMT).