Surprise Crash In Crude Inventories Sends Oil Prices Higher

The American Petroleum Institute (API) has reported a massive 11.486-million-barrel draw in U.S. crude inventories, compared with the previous week's 2.418-million-barrel draw as the markets weigh China's economic activity against U.S. crude inventories. Analysts were expecting an inventory draw of 2.9 million barrels for the week. The total number of barrels of crude oil gained so far this year is just shy of 4 million barrels, according to API data, although there is a net draw in crude inventories since April of almost 44 million barrels.…