After yet another surprise report —this time of an inventory build—from the American Petroleum Institute weighed on prices yesterday, the Energy Information Administration confirmed a build, reporting U.S. crude oil inventories had added 3.8 million barrels last week. At 408.7 million barrels, the EIA said, crude oil inventories were below the five-year seasonal average. Analysts polled by IG Group had expected a slight inventory decline of 200,000 barrels , after the previous week’s major, 6.1-million-barrel draw reported by the EIA. In gasoline, the EIA reported a draw in inventories, at 2.5 million barrels, compared with 2.3 million barrels a week earlier. Gasoline production averaged 10.5 million bpd between July 23 and 27, up slightly on the previous week. In distillates, the agency reported an inventory increase of 3 million barrels. This compares with a draw of 100,000 barrels a week earlier. Refineries produced 5.2 million barrels of distillates daily […]