The American Petroleum Institute (API) Reported a crude inventory build of 4.18 million barrels for the week ending January 31, compared to analyst expectations of a 2.8-million-barrel build in inventory. Last week saw a drop in crude oil inventories of 4.27 million barrels, according to API data. The EIA’s report (which happens often) showed a build of 3.5-million barrels for that week. Oil prices were down yesterday in the afternoon hours, after trending upward earlier in the day on news that OPEC was in talks about what action to take in response to the effects of the coronavirus that have disrupted travel within China and consequently, oil demand. Today Wednesday April Brent crude oil is up $1.64(+2.90%) at $55.39. . Overall, the benchmarks have slid more than $10 since the beginning of the year. The API reported a build of 1.96 million barrels of gasoline for week ending January 31, after last week’s large 3.27-million-barrel build. Distillate inventories were down by 1.78 million barrels for the week, compared to last week’s 141,000 draw, while Cushing inventories rose by 960,000 barrels. US crude oil production as estimated by the Energy Information Administration showed that production for the week ending January 24 stayed at 13.0 million bpd for a third week in a row, a record high for the United States.