Brent up despite unexpected US crude stock build

"Front-month ICE Brent crude futures rose by around $1/bbl in the first 40 minutes after official weekly US crude stock figures were released today, and despite a stock build."

PHOTO: Oil refinery complex with big American flag displayed, and fumes coming out from the chimney. Getty Images

Commercial US crude inventories grew by 1.61 million bbls on the week, to 449.66 million bbls on 24 November – the highest since July, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).

The weekly stock build ran counter to the American Petroleum Institute's (API) projection of an 820,000 bbls draw a day earlier.

Official EIA data also showed that US refinery utilisation increased by 2.8 percentage points to 89.8% last week – the highest in 10 weeks.

Gasoline stocks gained by 1.76 million bbls over the week, to a four-week high of 218 million bbls.

Distillate stocks, which include diesel and gasoil, rose by 5.22 million bbls to 111 million bbls – also the highest in four weeks.

By Debarati Bhattacharjee

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