The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported a surprise build of 3.097 million barrels in United States crude oil inventories, compared to an S&P Platts’ survey of analysts that expected inventories would draw down by 400,000 barrels for the week ending October 6. Gasoline inventories, according to the API, saw a decrease of 1.575 million barrels for the week ending October 6, against an expected build of 1.4 million barrels. Both WTI and Brent benchmarks were up on Tuesday as much of US offshore production remains offline after more than 92% of Gulf of Mexico production in the US was taken out by Tropical Storm Nate. Saudi Arabia also lifted some spirits as it promised to lower November exports, although China is likely behind much of the Saudi’s export cuts as it shutters refineries for maintenance as planned , and as China’s government sets strict import levels—and shows signs of […]