Crude oil inventories in the United States shed 7.2 million barrels in the week to June 26, the Energy Information Administration reported . Analysts had expected an inventory decline of 710,000 barrels for the period, and the American Petroleum Institute had estimated a sizeable inventory draw , to the tune of 8.156 million barrels, the largest inventory draw so far this year. For the previous week, the EIA reported an inventory build, at 1.4 million barrels, after another moderate build, of 1.2 million bpd, for the week before. Oil inventories remain above the five-year average for this time of the year, but refinery runs for the past few weeks suggest demand for fuels is increasing, albeit slowly. Last week, these averaged 14 million bpd, compared with 13.8 million bpd a week earlier, and 13.6 million bpd two weeks earlier. Gasoline production averaged 8.9 million bpd in the week to […]