Amid growing pessimism regarding an extension of OPEC’s oil production deal, and a day after the American Petroleum Institute reported an estimated increase of 897,000 barrels in U.S. commercial inventories, the EIA reversed the mood with a draw of 3.6 million barrels for the week to April 21. Analysts had expected a respite for oil prices with a decline in inventories of 1.6 million barrels and though they were out of luck with API, EIA exceeded the expectations. The EIA reported that crude inventories stood at 528.7 million barrels at the end of last week, still near the upper seasonal limit despite refineries increasing their runs after the end of maintenance season, which some analysts argued was the reason for the hefty weekly inventory increases that we saw over the last couple of months. They may well have been right, as refinery runs averaged 17.3 million barrels in the […]