US: Crude Inventories Surge Unexpectedly.

US crude oil inventories rose by 9.0 million barrels in the week ended November 6, defying market forecasts for a 1 million-barrel decline and reversing a 5.267 million-barrel drop in the previous week. The latest result marked the first increase in six weeks. Meanwhile, gasoline inventories increased by just 4,000 barrels, slowing sharply from a 1.427 million-barrel build previously, while distillate stocks rose by 1.5 million barrels after falling by 270,000 barrels in the prior week. At Cushing, inventories increased by 182,000 barrels, following a 511,000-barrel build in the previous week. Separately, 2.7 million barrels of crude were released from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to support commercial inventories, bringing total SPR stocks down to 279.5 million barrels. US crude oil production reached a record 14.003 million barrels per day in the week ended October 30, up from 13.992 million bpd a week earlier.