The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its crude oil inventories data on Wednesday. U.S. crude inventories rose by 2.0 million barrels to 540.6 million in the week to April 22.

Analysts had expected U.S. crude oil inventories to rise by 1.5 million barrels.

Gasoline inventories increased by 1.61 million barrels, according to the EIA.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, rose by 1.75 million barrels.

U.S. crude oil imports fell by 688,000 barrels per day.

Refineries in the U.S. were running at 88.1% of capacity, down from 89.4% the previous week.

Oil production fell by 0.2% last week to 8.938 million barrels a day from 8.953 million barrels a day in the previous week.

China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Wednesday that profits of industrial companies in China jumped 11.1% in March from a year earlier.

For the first quarter of 2016, industrial profits climbed 7.4% from a year earlier.

NBS official He Ping said in a statement that the rise profits of industrial companies in March was partly driven by an improving economy. He added that it was not a balanced and stable recovery.

The World Bank upgraded its oil forecasts on Tuesday. The lender expects the benchmark oil price to be $41 a barrel, up from its January estimate of $37 a barrel. The benchmark oil price includes prices for Brent, West Texas Intermediate and Dubai crudes.

The World Bank noted that the upward revision was driven by improving sentiment and a weaker U.S. dollar. But the lender warned that oil prices could decline again due to concerns over the global oil oversupply.

(raw materials / closing price /% change)

Oil 44.66 +1.41%

Gold 1,244.80 +0.11%