U.S. petroleum inventories show clear signs of trending lower as consumption slowly recovers from the epidemic and lockdowns, while Saudi Arabia restricts production and directs volumes away from North America. Total petroleum inventories fell last week for the fourth time in five weeks, and are now down more than 17 million barrels since early July, according to data from the U.S Energy Information Administration. The drawdown has started to whittle away some of the 222 million barrels built up between the end of March and the end of June ("Weekly petroleum status report", EIA, Aug. 12).