The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that there was a surprise build this week for crude oil of 3.754 million barrels, compared to analyst predictions of a 1.867 million barrels draw. U.S. crude inventories have shed some 73 million barrels since the start of 2021 and about 16 million barrels since the start of 2020. In the week prior, the API reported a build in crude oil inventories of 2.811 million barrels after analysts had predicted a draw of 833,000 barrels. Oil prices were trading down sharply on Tuesday—continuing Monday's…
