Crude: +0.4 (vs. +2.4 fcst)
Gasoline: -0.9 (vs. -1.5 fcst)
Distillates: -1.0 (vs. -1.6 fcst)
NEW YORK, March 30 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures rose slightly in post-settlement trading on Tuesday, after industry data showed a much smaller-than-expected increase in crude stocks last week. Heating oil and gasoline futures edged up, as data from the American Petroleum Institute showed that distillate and gasoline supplies fell, but by less than analysts had forecast.
"The API has reported a slim crude stock build here and it all boils down to imports being down last week," said Phil Flynn, analyst at PFGBest Research in Chicago.
"People probably thought that last week's report showing a large increase in crude stocks was part of a trend. Well, it now looks like this week's level of imports, if confirmed in tomorrow's EIA data, may show that inflow of crude is normalizing, after several weeks of uncertainty due to bad weather in the Gulf Coast," Flynn added.