03:19 PM EDT, 05/14/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Commercial crude stockpiles in the US saw a surprise build last week as propane and propylene inventories increased, government data showed Wednesday.

Inventories of crude, excluding the strategic petroleum reserve, rose by 3.5 million barrels to 441.8 million barrels through the week ended Friday, the Energy Information Administration said. The consensus was for a draw of about 2.2 million barrels in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

Propane and propylene stocks grew by 2.2 million barrels. Distillate fuel inventories fell by 3.2 million barrels, while motor gasoline dropped by 1 million barrels. Total commercial petroleum inventories increased by 4.9 million barrels.

Both gasoline and distillate fuel output decreased last week, the EIA said.

West Texas Intermediate crude was down 1.1% at $62.98 a barrel in Wednesday late-afternoon trade, while Brent fell 1.2% to $65.86. Both benchmarks have closed higher in the last four trading sessions.

That rally in oil prices came following a 90-day truce in the US-China trade war that lowered the risk of a full-blown US recession later this year, while also "slowing an economic slide in China," Saxo Bank Head of Commodity Strategy Ole Hansen said in a report. There is now "a more stable outlook" for demand in the world's two biggest fossil fuel consumers.

"Unless the US administration manages to successfully tighten sanctions against Iran -- and potentially also Russia, if the first direct talks between Russia and Ukraine this week in Ankara fail to deliver a diplomatic breakthrough -- the prospect for higher prices at this stage seems limited," Hansen said Wednesday.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries on Wednesday maintained its global oil demand projections for 2025 and 2026, but reduced its world and US economic growth forecasts for this year.