The American Petroleum Institute reported late Tuesday that U.S. crude supplies rose by 1.1 million barrels for the week ended Dec. 4, according to sources. The data also reportedly showed gasoline stockpiles up by 6.4 million barrels, while distillate inventories climbed by 2.3 million barrels. Crude stocks at the Cushing, Okla., storage hub, meanwhile, edged down by nearly 1.85 million barrels for the week, sources said. Inventory data from the Energy Information Administration will be released Wednesday. On average, the EIA data are expected to show crude inventories down by 700,000 barrels last week, according to a survey of analysts conducted by S&P Global Platts, which also forecast supply increases of 2.2 million barrels for gasoline and 1.2 million barrels in distillates. January West Texas Intermediate crude
CLF21,
was at $44.45 a barrel in electronic trading, down from Tuesday’s settlement at $45.60 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.