U.S. commercial crude oil inventories unexpectedly increased by 2 million barrels last week, defying analyst predictions of a draw. This build, reported by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), brings total crude stocks (excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) to 411.7 million barrels. The increase was attributed to higher imports and lower exports. Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had anticipated a 1 million barrel decrease.

Despite the overall rise, crude oil stocks at Cushing, Oklahoma, the Nymex delivery hub, saw a decrease of 674,000 barrels, ending the week at 19.4 million barrels. The EIA also reported that U.S. crude oil production averaged 13.8 million barrels a day, a slight decline of 63,000 barrels a day from the prior week. Crude oil imports rose by 117,000 barrels a day to 5.8 million barrels a day, while exports dropped by 368,000 barrels a day to 3.4 million barrels a day.

The Department of Energy released 5.1 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, leaving it with 311.4 million barrels. Overall crude oil stockpiles remain about 6% below the five-year average for this time of year.