US crude stock draw supersedes predictions

Front-month ICE Brent crude futures increased inched $0.19/bbl higher in the half hour after official weekly figures from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) were released this afternoon.

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

Commercial US crude oil stocks fell by 5.89 million bbls to a two-week low of 418.23 million bbls in the week to 16 December. The draw superseded predictions of a 1.6 million-bbl drop from analysts polled by Reuters and also much higher than the American Petroleum Institute's (API) earlier projection of a 3.07 million-bbls drop.

Volumes of crude released from strategic petroleum reserves (SPR) declined from the previous week’s 4.74 million bbls to 3.64 million in the week to 16 December.

Gasoline stocks rose by 2.53 million bbls on the week, while diesel stock fell by 242,000 bbls.

US refinery utilisation declined by 1.3 percentage points to a seven-week low of 90.9%.

By Nithin Chandran

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