Crude oil prices rose today after the Energy Information Administration reported a crude oil inventory draw of 4.5 million barrels for the week to July 22. This compared with a modest inventory decline of 400,000 barrels for the previous week. It also compared with an estimated crude oil inventory draw of 4 million barrels for last week, as reported by the American Petroleum Institute. At 422.1 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 6 percent below the average for this time of the year. In gasoline, the authority estimated an inventory decline of 3.3 million barrels for the week to July 22, which compared with a build of 3.5 million barrels for the previous week. Gasoline production last week averaged 9.7 million barrels daily, which compared with 9.4 million bpd a week earlier. In middle distillates, the EIA estimated a stock draw of 800,000 barrels for the week […]