U.S. crude oil inventories shed an impressive 10.6 million barrels in the week to July 24, the Energy Information Administration reported today. This compares with a build of 4.9 million barrels for the previous week. However, inventories remain 17 percent above the five-year seasonal average. A day earlier, the American Petroleum Institute reported an estimated crude oil inventory decline of 6.83 million barrels, versus analyst expectations of a much more modest draw of 357,000 barrels. A surge in new Covid-19 infections in the United States offset the oil price gains that followed the API’s report and now the figures that the EIA has reported will likely help prices recoup some of those losses. As the global oil demand outlook remains mostly negative since the coronavirus is resurging not just in the United States but in other countries as well, optimism about the oil industry—especially the downstream segment—is on the […]