Surprise Crude Inventory Build Sends Oil Prices Down

The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday reported a build in crude oil inventories of 806,000 barrels for the week ending July 16, bringing the total 2021 crude draw so far to a hair under 50 million barrels, using API data. Analysts had expected a loss of 4.333 million barrels for the week. In the previous week, the API reported a draw in oil inventories of 4.079 million barrels, largely in line with analyst predictions for a draw of 4.333 million barrels. The price of a WTI barrel had risen more than 50% so far this year, but…