Brent price drops despite US crude stockpiles rise

The front-month ICE Brent contract dropped by $0.15/bbl in the first hour after the official weekly oil figures from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) were released today.

PHOTO: An oil pumpjack with a refinery in the background. Getty Images

Commercial crude oil inventories in the US increased by 5.5 million bbls to touch 426 million bbls on 18 October, according to data from EIA.

The country’s refinery utilisation increased by 1.8 percentage point to 90%.

Gasoline stocks increased by 878,000 bbls over the week to 214 million bbls, and distillate stocks dropped by 1.14 million bbls to 114 million bbls – the lowest since December 2023.

By Debarati Bhattacharjee

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