2021.03.1019:31:00UTC+00Crude Oil Futures Settle Higher

Despite data showing a rise in U.S. crude inventories in the week ended March 5, crude oil futures closed higher on Wednesday, rebounding from recent losses.

West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended up $0.43 or about 0.7% at $64.44 a barrel.

Brent crude futures settled at $67.90 a barrel, gaining $0.46 or 0.6% in the session.

According to the data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), crude inventories were up by 13.8 million barrels last week, compared with expectations for a build of 816,000 barrels.

Gasoline inventories dropped by 11.869 million barrels last week, nearly 3 times the expected fall. Meanwhile, distillate stockpiles were down 5.5 million barrels last week, more than 1.5 times higher than an expected drop.

The American Petroleum Institute reported late Tuesday that U.S. crude supplies rose by 12.8 million barrels for the week ended March 5.