Oil prices tanked today led lower by other financial markets as US crude inventories rose to yet another record last week. This marks a third straight record for US crude inventories as US production also increased last week for the first time since April. Inventories grew by 1.44MM/bbls, compared with a forecasted build of 300K/bbls. Crude and distillate inventories in the Gulf (where most of the US refining capacity is) also notched another record high. Gasoline inventories were down 1.673 MM/ bbls (vs a forecasted draw of -1.61MM/bbls) while demand for gasoline was up 740K/bpd. “The thing we should be encouraged by is the jump in gasoline demand week over week. The gasoline number would seem to suggest that we’re definitely seeing an improvement in demand,” said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. Distillate stocks were up 250K/bbls (vs a forecasted draw of 300K/bbls) while overall demand was down 89K/bpd. WTI traded down $2.36 or -5.85% to close at $38.01. Brent traded down $2.32 or -5.44% to close at $40.31.