Punjab, Sept. 16 -- Crude fell below $105 on Wednesday, retreating from four-month highs, after US industry data showed a surprise build in inventories. The Saudi East-West pipeline is still offline. Both things are true at once, and that is the story.
The bearish number
API data showed US crude stockpiles rose by 7.14 million barrels last week, against expectations of another drawdown and following a 300,000-barrel decline the week before.
A build that large in a week when the market is pricing a supply emergency is the kind of data point that reverses a rally on its own, regardless of what is happening in the Gulf.
The bullish situation, unchanged
Loadings at Saudi Arabia's Yanbu port remain suspended. The East-West pipeline shutdown...