Crude oil prices ticked slightly higher today after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a large draw in crude oil inventories for the week to December 20. The change compares with a modest inventory dip of 900,000 barrels for the previous week and a draw of 3.2 million barrels as estimated by the American Petroleum Institute for the week to December 20. Total motor gasoline inventories added 1.6 million barrels in the period, with production averaging 9.9 million barrels daily. This compared with a build of 2.3 million barrels for…
