U.S. Crude Oil Inventories Continue to Fall

Crude oil inventories in the United States fell again this week, this time by 3.9 million barrels for the week ending July 19, according to The American Petroleum Institute (API). The reality was a far cry from analyst predictions which pegged the inventory move at a 700,000-barrel build for the week. For the week prior, the API reported a 4.44 million barrel draw in crude inventories. This week marks the fourth week in a row of API-estimated inventory draws for crude oil, for a total loss of  19.4 million barrels during that time. On Monday,…