Brent prices slump after US crude stockpiles rise

Front-month ICE Brent crude futures has come down by $0.28/bbl since the official weekly oil figures from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) were released yesterday.

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

Commercial crude oil inventories in the US increased by 4 million bbls to reach 442.96 million bbls on 16 February, according to the EIA.

The weekly stock build was much smaller than the American Petroleum Institute's (API) projection of 7.17 million bbls build a day earlier.

The official EIA data showed that US refinery utilisation remained unchanged at 80.6%. Refinery utilisation has averaged 81% so far this month, 7% lower than 87% 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 293,000 bbls over the week to 247.03 million bbls and distillate stocks, which include diesel and gasoil, fell for the fifth consecutive week. The distillate stocks dropped by a massive 4.01 million bbls to 121.65 million bbls.

By Debarati Bhattacharjee

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