US crude stock draw falls short of expectations

Front-month ICE Brent crude futures dropped $0.13/bbls in the first 45 minutes after the 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 inventories fell by 2.22 million bbls on the week, to 414.06 million bbls on 29 September, according to the EIA.

The weekly stock draw was much smaller than the American Petroleum Institute's (API) projection of a 4.21 million bbls draw a day earlier.

US refinery utilisation fell by 2.20 percentage points to a near six-month low of 87.3%.

Gasoline stocks gained by 6.5 million bbls over the week, to 227 million bbls - the highest level since March.

Distillate stocks, which include diesel and gasoil, dropped by 1.3 million bbls to 119 million bbls.

By Debarati Bhattacharjee

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