US crude inventories likely climbed last week as refiners were deep into fall maintenance, an S&P Global Platts analysis showed Tuesday. Analysts polled by Platts were looking for crude stocks to have risen on average by 4 million barrels, which would put inventories at 429.6 million barrels, roughly 1.4% above the five-year average, based on the most recent US Energy Information Administration data. The EIA weekly data is due out Thursday, delayed by one day this week because of a federal holiday. US crude inventories typically climb this time of year as refiners enter fall maintenance. The EIA five-year average shows inventories climbing over the next six weeks, before tightening again as refiners come back online. US refiners were operating at […]