American crude oil supplies have plunged by 3.8 million barrels this week, according to the American Petroleum Institute (API) report released on Tuesday. This is a variance of almost 6 million barrels from what experts polled by Zero Hedge had anticipated: a 2.1 million increase in crude supplies. This week’s draw comes as a welcome surprise to oil markets after last week’s EIA data showed a massive build of 4.9 million barrels . West Texas intermediate prices are up $0.48 to $50.77 after the report was released. Supplies in Cushing, Oklahoma, saw a 1.96 million barrel drop – the biggest withdrawal since February 2014 – slightly larger than the 1.4 million draw that analysts had expected. Gasoline supplies increased by 929,000 barrels, while distillates fell by 2.3 million barrels. Tomorrow’s report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), which often contains widely different figures, will either confirm or deny the […]