The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported a surprise draw in crude oil inventory of 2.133 million barrels for the week ending March 15, coming in under analyst expectations of a 309,000-barrel build. This is the second week in a row for a surprise draw. Last week, the API reported a large surprise draw in crude oil of 2.6 million barrels . A day later, the EIA reported a similar figure, estimating that crude inventories had drawn down by 3.9 million barrels . Including this week’s data, the net draw is 1.5 million barrels for the eleven reporting periods so far this year, using API data. (Click to enlarge) WTI was trading down slightly on Tuesday hours before the data release at $59.22, down $0.16 (-0.27%) at 1:59pm. Its counterpart, the Brent benchmark, was trading at $67.57, up $0.03 (+0.04%) at that time, with prices near yesterday’s levels as the […]