INSTANT VIEW: U.S. crude stocks rise unexpectedly

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil supplies rose last week for the first time in six weeks, defying analyst expectations for a draw, the government said in a weekly report on Wednesday.

ANALYST COMMENTS:

TIM EVANS, ENERGY ANALYST, CITI FUTURES PERSPECTIVE, NEW YORK:

"The build in crude stocks and the larger-than-expected build in distillates are the main surprises here; the slight draw in gasoline was not far off from the consensus expectation. Four-week average gasoline demand is down 2.7 percent from a year ago. Four-week average distillates demand is down 2.3 percent. Jet fuel demand is off 5.8 percent. The combination of week product demand and the build in crude should be bearish overall."

PHIL FLYNN, ANALYST, ALARON TRADING, CHICAGO:

"The big build in distillates is leading us lower. We had been focused on sending distillates to China, refiners were maxing out production to meet worldwide demand. We are now building supplies at a pretty good rate. This is good news if you are a trucker.

"On gasoline, we are starting to catch up with demand destruction in the MasterCard survey. People are revolting against high prices, taking bicycles and public transportation.

"It's a bearish start to the day.

"The key to staying lower is the Fed meeting. So it's up to Mr. Bernanke and the Fed to see how they word that statement.

"The news out of Saudi about the aborted attack appears that they are one step ahead of Al Qaeda for a second time. It seems that their intelligence is very good. It kind of lowers the terror premium. Before, this would have run it up."

CHRIS JARVIS, SENIOR ANALYST, CAPROCK RISK MANAGEMENT, NEW

HAMPSHIRE:

"Higher refinery runs with capacity coming back on line should continue to boost distillate numbers and bring the crack spreads lower, putting downward pressure on the market."

"Even though the inventory numbers were moderately bearish, the demand numbers are still relatively strong given how high prices are. We're not really seeing the demand destruction you'd think we'd see given the price levels."

JIM RITTERBUSCH, PRESIDENT, RITTERBUSCH & ASSOCIATES, GALENA,

ILLINOIS: