The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated on Tuesday a build in crude oil inventories of 7.544 million barrels for the week ending July 17. Bulls were disappointed with the news, as analysts had predicted an inventory draw of 1.950 million barrels . In the previous week, the API reported a major decrease in crude oil inventories of 8.322 million barrels , after analysts had predicted a much smaller draw. WTI was trading up on Tuesday afternoon prior to the API’s data release, with markets ignoring the uptick in the number of new coronavirus cases in the United States, instead focusing on the vaccine prospects and a successful European stimulus package that was passed. Prices had reached levels not seen since March, prior to the oil price war that Russia and Saudi Arabia waged on the world, and prior to the settling in of the pandemic in the world’s second-largest […]