Mumbai, Aug. 12 -- The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States rose by 9.072 million barrels in the week ending August 7. In the week prior, U.S. crude oil inventories rose by 2.69 million barrels. The larger-than-expected build was driven in part by higher crude imports relative to exports during the week. Commercial crude oil inventories excluding the SPR have lost just over 49 million barrels over the last seventeen weeks, with US crude inventories up 1.88 million for the year, according to API data, kept in check by draws from the SPR. Gasoline inventories fell this week by 1.531 million barrels in the week ending August 7. In the week prior, gasoline inventories increased by 156,000 ...