EIA Confirms Crude Build, Surprises with Products Draw

Crude oil prices moved slightly higher today, after the Energy Information Administration reported an inventory increase of 3.5 million barrels for the week to February 16. This followed a sizeable build of 12 million barrels for a week that also saw gasoline and middle distillate fuel inventories decline. For the week to February 16, the EIA also reported an estimated gasoline inventory draw of 300,000 barrels, which compared with a decline of 3.7 million barrels for the previous week. Gasoline production averaged 9 million barrels…