HOUSTON, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday reported an increase of 4.14 million barrels of crude oil in U.S. inventories for the week ending Sept. 23.
Analysts had expected a hike of 0.333 million barrels for this week.
The API reported a surge of 1.035 million barrels in the previous week.
Oil prices rose on Tuesday after hitting their lowest levels since January in the prior session.
The West Texas Intermediate for November delivery increased 1.79 U.S. dollars, or 2.3 percent, to settle at 78.5 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for November delivery added 2.21 dollars, or 2.6 percent, to settle at 86.27 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
Prices garnered some support from supply curbs in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico as Hurricane Ian forced oil companies in the region to evacuate personnel and shut in production.
The U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement reported Tuesday that about 11 percent of oil production and 8.56 percent of natural-gas production in the Gulf have been shut.
Traders also awaited data on U.S. fuel stockpiles as the Energy Information Administration is set to release its weekly petroleum status report on Wednesday. Analysts polled by S&P Global Commodity Insights expect U.S. commercial crude supplies to show a rise of 400,000 barrels for the week ending Sept. 23.
