Crude Inventory Draw Fails to Prevent Oil Price Drop

Despite a substantial inventory draw of 17 million barrels confirmed by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), oil prices did not rise as expected. The draw was estimated by the American Petroleum Institute (API) and was the largest in years. However, crude oil inventories are still 1% below the five-year average. Gasoline inventories saw a build of 1.5 million barrels, while middle distillates experienced a decline of 800,000 barrels. Oil prices had previously surged due to demand forecasts and production constraints, but have since fallen.