The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported a surprise build of 1.758 million barrels of United States crude oil inventories for the week ending April 6, after analysts had anticipated a draw in crude oil inventories of 189,000 barrels . Last week, the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported surprise draw of 3.28 million barrels of crude oil. The API reported this week a build for gasoline for week ending April 6 of 2.005 million in gasoline stockpiles—another surprise given the 1.425-million-barrel draw that analysts had expected. Both benchmarks had skyrocketed on Tuesday, with the WTI benchmark up by $2.44 (+3.85%) at $65.85—$2.00 over last week’s prices, while Brent traded up $2.67 (+3.89%) at $71.32 at 3:32 pm EST. The rally was inspired in part by Trump’s Monday promise to respond “forcefully” to the suspected chemical attack in Syria, followed by Russia’s threat of retaliation. Further buoying prices was President Xi […]