The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported a build of 2.791 million barrels in United States crude oil inventories, compared to analyst expectations of a build of 4.022 million barrels for the week ending September 1. Gasoline inventories fell by 2.544 million barrels for the week ending September 1, against a larger expected draw of 5.0 million barrels. That US crude oil inventories would build in the wake of Hurricane Harvey was largely anticipated, with some saying as much as 40-60 million barrels could be added to inventory while shuttered refineries struggle to come back online. “We could see a buildup in inventories…of 40 to 50 million barrels on the back of this refining outages, which is what’s pressing WTI prices lower,” Francisco Blanch, Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s head of global commodity and derivatives research, told CNBC last Friday. “I think WTI is going to stay weak for a […]