The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated on Tuesday another large crude oil inventory build, of 7.58 million barrels for the week ending May 8 even as several U.S. states begin the slow process of reopening certain segments of their battered economies. Today’s inventory build was expected to be just 4.147 million barrels –less than half of the weekly inventory builds we’ve seen over the past few weeks, according to API data. The figures were, however, nearly double those expectations. In the previous week, the API estimated a large build in crude oil inventories of 8.440 million barrels, while the EIA’s estimates were for a significantly smaller build of 4.6 million barrels for that week. Oil prices were trading up on Tuesday afternoon prior to the API’s data release, as news of additional OPEC production cuts reinvigorated markets skittish about oversupply at a time when demand continues to lag. The […]