The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported on Tuesday a bigger build than expected in crude oil inventories of 4.577 million barrels for the week ending October 23. Analysts had predicted a much smaller inventory build of 1.11 million barrels . In the previous week, the API reported a surprise build in oil inventories of 584,000 barrels , after analysts had predicted a draw of 240,000 barrels. Oil prices were trading up on Tuesday afternoon before the API’s data release, despite the depressed demand outlook that persists in the market. Bearish factors this week include a ramp-up of oil production in OPEC producer Libya. Bullish factors include another storm in the U.S. Gulf Coast that is shutting down oil production. The increase in the number of new Covid-19 cases serves as a chronic bearish undertone in the market. In the runup to Tuesday’s data release, at 12:07 pm EDT, WTI […]