Brent crude oil prices drop due to rise in US crude stockpiles

Front-month ICE Brent crude futures were down by $0.39/bbl an hour after the official weekly oil figures from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) were released today.

PHOTO: An oil pumpjack with the US flag in the background. Getty Images

Commercial crude oil inventories in the US increased by a whopping 12 million bbls to reach 439.45 million bbls on 9 February, according to the EIA. The weekly stock build was much bigger than the American Petroleum Institute's (API) projection of 8.52 million bbls build a day earlier.

The official EIA data showed that US refinery utilisation decreased by 1.8 percentage points to 81%, which is the lowest weekly average since March 2021. Refinery utilisation has averaged 8% lower in February than in January.

The drop in refinery utilisation is due to ongoing maintenance in several Gulf Coast refineries, as well as weather-related disruptions that have kept some refineries in the region closed, a source says. This has led to a decrease in refinery product stocks.

Gasoline stocks dropped by 3.66 million bbls over the week to 247.33 million bbls and distillate stocks, which include diesel and gasoil, fell for the fourth consecutive week. The stocks dropped by 1.92 million bbls to 126.66 million bbls.

By Debarati Bhattacharjee

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