India, Feb. 20 -- Despite data showing a surge in crude inventories in the U.S., oil futures settled higher on Thursday, as supply disruptions in Russia, and drop in gasoline and distillate fuel stocks supported oil prices.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures closed higher by $32 or about 0.44% at $72.57 a barrel.
Brent crude futures settled at $76.48 a barrel, gaining $0.44 or about 0.58%.
Data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed crude oil inventories in the U.S. shot up by 4.6 million barrels last week, after jumping by 4.1 million barrels in the previous week. Economists had expected crude oil inventories to increase by 3.0 million barrels.
Nonetheless, at 432.5 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories re...