The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States saw a build of 1.7 million barrels in the week ending December 26. Crude oil inventories rose by 2.4 million barrels in the week prior. Crude oil inventories in the United States are so far showing a net decrease of 5.1 million barrels for the year, according to Oilprice calculations of API data. Earlier this week, the Department of Energy (DoE) reported that crude oil inventories in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) have risen by 200,000 barrels…