The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported a huge crude oil inventory draw of 8.129 million barrels for the week ending July 4, compared to analyst expectations of a smaller 3.081-million barrel draw. Last week, the API reported a draw of 5 million barrels . A day later, the EIA estimated a much smaller inventory drawdown of 1.1 million barrels . The net build is just 13.56 million barrels for the 28-week reporting period so far this year, using API data. Oil prices were up on Tuesday as the market grows increasingly leery of the mounting tensions in the Middle East that continue to threaten the world’s transport of crude. At 4:01pm EST, WTI was trading up by $0.31 (+0.54%) at $57.97—less than a $1.00 over last week’s levels—a surprisingly low rise given the tumultuous times in the Middle East. Brent was trading down $0.17 (+0.27%) at $64.28—up almost $1 […]