Amid the shutdown of 20 percent of U.S. refining capacity caused by Hurricane Harvey and the pending shutdown of more refineries as the storm moves on to Louisiana, the EIA’s latest weekly inventory report may limit the fall in WTI prices. The authority reported a draw of 5.4 million barrels for the week ending August 25, a day after the American Petroleum Institute estimated these inventories had fallen by 5.78 million barrels in the period. Analysts had expected a decline of 1.75 million barrels. Despite the almost uninterrupted string of inventory declines over the last ten weeks, the end of driving season is drawing near and this fact, coupled with the refinery damage Harvey caused, will be certain to affect prices in an adverse way. In fact, one analyst, CNBC’s Jim Cramer, has warned that WTI could fall to the mid-US$30s. He based his forecast on seasonal changes in […]