Surprise Crude Oil Build Thwarts Price Rally

The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported on Tuesday a build in crude oil inventories of 2.970 million barrels for the week ending September 4. Analysts had predicted an inventory draw of 1.335-million barrels. In the previous week, the API reported a draw in crude oil inventories of 6.360 million barrels, after analysts had predicted a smaller draw of 1.887 million barrels. Oil prices were trading up on Tuesday afternoon before the API’s data release, but the rising prices come only after a brutal trading day in the day prior when…