Crude oil prices remained largely unchanged today after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a modest crude oil inventory build of 700,000 barrels for the week to April 22. This compared with an inventory decline of 8 million barrels for the previous week that pushed prices higher. At 414.4 million barrels, crude oil inventories are 16 percent below the five-year average for the season. In fuels, the EIA reported inventory declines. Gasoline inventories shed 1.6 million barrels last week, which compared with a modest draw of 800,000 barrels for the previous week. Going forward, gasoline inventories may fall further as refiners opt for greater middle distillate production due to tighter supply globally. Gasoline production averaged 9.5 million barrels daily last week, which compared with 9.8 million barrels daily a week earlier. Middle distillate inventories last week fell by 1.4 million barrels, which compared with a draw of 2.7 million […]