Crude oil prices rose midday, erasing earlier losses on signs of rising gasoline demand and improving refinery runs. Refinery utilization was up 1.9% to 71.3%, while demand for gasoline was up 463K/bpd for the week ended May 22nd. Today’s EIA report also showed a surprise build in crude oil stocks. Inventories rose by 7.92 MM/bbls, due in large part to an increase in imports (the Saudi crude we knew was on its way). Imports were up 2MM/bpd for the week ending May 22nd while total crude production was down 100K bpd to 11.4Mmbpd. Gasoline stocks fell unexpectedly, even as refiners are boosting output, by 724K/bbls. Distillate inventories rose 5.5MM/bbls. Even though there was a big surprise in crude supplies, there’s optimism around the uptick in refinery runs and gasoline demand. Uncertainty about Russia’s commitment to continuing deep output cuts kept the price gain in check. Saudi Arabia and other OPEC producers are considering extending record-high output cuts until the end of 2020 but have yet to win support from Russia, according to OPEC+ and Russian industry sources. WTI traded up $.90 or 2.74% to close at $33.71. Brent traded up $.55 or 1.58% to close at $35.29.