India, July 30 -- A report released by the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday unexpectedly showed a sharp increase by crude oil inventories in the U.S. in the week ended July 25th.

The EIA said crude oil inventories surged by 7.7 million barrels last week after falling by 3.2 million barrels in the previous week. Economists had expected crude oil inventories to decrease by 2.5 million barrels.

At 426.7 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories remain about 6 percent below the five-year average for this time of year, the report said.

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The report said distillate fuel inventories, which include heating oil and diesel, also increased by 3.6 mil...