US crude and distillate stocks grow amid higher refinery utilisation

The front-month ICE Brent crude future rose by $0.19/bbl in the first 40 minutes after the official weekly figures from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) were released today.

PHOTO: A storage facility for oil prior to being transported for refining and distribution for energy consumption throughout the United States. Getty Images

Commercial US crude inventories gained by 5.95 million bbls on the week, to 458.13 million bbls on 7 July, according to the EIA's latest figures released today.

The weekly stock build was more than the 3.03 million-bbl build estimated for the same week by the American Petroleum Institute (API) yesterday.

US refinery utilisation increased by 2.6 percentage points to 94% coming into July, which is up from 93% in June and 92% in May.

Gasoline stocks fell by a slight 4,000 bbls over the week to 219.45 million bbls.

Distillate stocks, which include diesel and gasoil, increased by 4.82 million bbls to 118.18 million bbls - the most in 17 weeks.

By Debarati Bhattacharjee

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