U.S. crude inventories increased by 95,000 barrels in the week to Aug. 21, below the expected 597,000-barrel rise and sharply lower than the previous week’s 4.405 million-barrel increase. Strategic petroleum reserve inventories declined by 3.7 million barrels, compared with a 5.268 million-barrel drop previously. EIA (U.S. energy data agency) figures also showed crude inventories at the Cushing, Oklahoma, storage hub rising by 1.176 million barrels after falling 1.314 million barrels in the prior week.