The American Petroleum Institute (API) has estimated a large crude oil inventory draw of 7.9 million barrels for the week ending December 18, compared to analyst expectations of a much smaller 1.833-million-barrel draw in inventory. Last week saw a build in crude oil inventories of 4.7 million barrels , according to API data. The EIA’s estimates reported a draw of 1.1 million barrels for that week. After today’s reported inventory move, the net inventory moves so far this year—almost the end of the year–stand at a build of 3.22 million barrels for the last 51-weeks, using API data. Oil prices had been up on the day prior to the data release. WTI was trading up over 1% on Tuesday. At 4:10 pm EST, WTI was trading up $0.62 (1.02%) at $61.14—roughly $0.25 per barrel above than last week’s levels. The price of a Brent barrel was also trading up, […]