The American Petroleum Institute (API) has estimated a large crude oil inventory draw of 5.95 million barrels for the week ending January 3, compared to analyst expectations of a smaller 3.572-million-barrel draw in inventory. Last week saw a large draw in crude oil inventories of 7.8 million barrels, according to API data. The EIA’s estimates reported an even larger draw of 11.5 million barrels for that week. Oil prices were down on the day prior to the afternoon data release, but were up week on week after this weekend saw US airstrikes in Iraq that killed an Iranian military general Qassem Soleimani, drawing threats from Iran and causing foreign oil companies to evacuate Iraq. At 2:00 pm EST, the WTI benchmark was trading down $0.63 (-1.00%) at $62.64—roughly $1.58 per barrel above than last week’s levels. The price of a Brent barrel was also trading down on Tuesday, by […]