U.S. crude oil inventories increased by 5.8 million barrels , according to this week’s American Petroleum Institute (API) inventory report published on Tuesday afternoon, compounded by large builds—again—in both gasoline and distillates. Analysts were anticipating a crude oil inventory build of 3.06 million barrels , according to Market Realist. Oil prices have found themselves being used like a rope in a desperate game of tug of war for weeks—on one side, there is good news from OPEC regarding their production cut adherence. On the other is the news that US drillers are adding rigs, and API and EIA inventory builds for weeks. While OPEC has reportedly cut 1 million barrels per day of production in January, Baker Hughes reported a 15 oil rig increase last Friday, which followed a massive 29 oil rig increase the week prior. Prior to the API’s data release, Brent crude had traded up about […]