Crude oil prices jumped higher after the Energy Information Administration reported crude oil inventories in the U.S. had shed 7.3 million barrels in the week to February 12. This compared with an inventory draw of 5.5 million barrels for the previous week, as estimated by the EIA. The American Petroleum Institute had a day earlier seen crude oil inventories down 5.8 million barrels for the week to February 12. Analysts had expected an inventory draw of 2.175 million barrels for the reporting period. The EIA also reported a build in gasoline stocks for last week, at 700,000 barrels. This compared with a build of 4.3 million barrels for the previous week. Production averaged 9 million bpd, compared with 8.7 million bpd a week earlier. This week and next will likely see further hefty gasoline inventory draws due to the refinery outages caused by the Texas freeze. According to industry […]