US crude oil stocks rise again
Front-month ICE Brent crude futures increased by $0.44/bbl in the half hour after official weekly figures from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) were released today.
PHOTO: Oil refinery complex with big American flag displayed, and fumes coming out from the chimney. Getty Images
Commercial US crude oil stocks increased by 1.69 million bbls to 420.64 million bbls in the week ending 30 December. The stock build fell short of the American Petroleum Institute's (API) earlier projection of a 3.29 million-bbl rise.
Releases from Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPRs) declined to a four-week low of 2.74 million bbls in the week, leaving 372 million bbls in SPR storage.
Gasoline stocks fell by 346,000 bbls on the week, which may signal stronger demand.
US refinery utilisation dropped by a massive 12 percentage points to a multi-week low of 79.6%. The drop was led by declines in the Gulf Coast region, where refinery utlisation declined by 18 percentage points to 77.7% as a blizzard caused some refineries to shut down during that week.
By Nithin Chandran
Please get in touch with comments or additional info to news@engine.online
