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The American Petroleum Institute (API) did a huge solid for the price of oil today, reporting a 12.1 million barrel drawdown in American crude oil stockpiles for the week ending September 2nd. This news, in contrast to expectations that a rise of 225,000 barrels would be seen in the API report, did much to support the price of crude oil on Wednesday. While the U.S. Energy Information Administration's official data is still yet to be released, if this figure turns out to be accurate, it will be the largest weekly drop in U.S. stockpiles (not including the U.S. strategic petroleum reserve) since April of 1985.

This news, which surfaced on Wednesday afternoon, one day late due to the Labor Day holiday in the U.S. earlier in the week, comes at a good time. With the summer driving season coming to a close as families send their children back to school, fears have been running high that if the months of elevated travel were unable to assist in alleviating the global oil glut, then surely moving into the season of transport slowdown can only be further gloomy news for the glut. And so, optimism replaced fear as news of the massive stockpile decline broke, sending crude oil prices soaring. Brent jumped 60 cents to $48.54 a barrel within 5 minutes of the report's release, and prices continued to surge, with U.S. futures doubling the day's gains in after-market trade.

Some are cautioning, however, that even if the numbers turn out to be true, closures resulting from Tropical Storm Hermine last week may be to blame and so perhaps don't represent the stockpiles accurately. Dominick Chirichella, senior partner at Energy Management Institute in New York, thinks the stockpile decline is due to "rough weather in the waters that prevented a lot of vessels from unloading. Certainly, some production was shut in because of the hurricane."

The market will now await today's U.S. Energy Information Administration's official report.

By the end of Tuesday's session, November Brent crude futures had risen 72 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $47.98 USD a barrel on London's ICE Futures Exchange, while October U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 67 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $45.50 USD a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, both benchmark's seeing their highest closing prices in over a week.

The day's main influences, the bears and bulls:

The Bears:

- Bear? What bear?

The Bulls:

- The American Petroleum Institute's report for the week ending September 2nd, suggesting that U.S. crude stockpiles have dropped by 12 million barrels, had investors crying "Toro!" ...that's the Spanish word for bull.