US crude stocks drawn heavily, distillate stocks rise for fifth consecutive week

Front-month ICE Brent crude futures jumped by $0.96/bbl in the first 40 minutes after 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 US. Getty Images

Commercial US crude inventories dropped by massive 9.60 million bbls on the week, to 453.69 million bbls on 23 June, according to the EIA's latest figures released today.

The weekly stock draw was much bigger than the 2.4 million-bbl drop projected by the American Petroleum Institute (API) a day earlier.

US refinery utilisation decreased by another 0.90 percentage points to 92%. Utilisation has averaged 94% so far this month, which is up from 92% in May and 91% in April.

Gasoline stocks grew by 603,000 bbls on the week and hit an eight-week high of 222.01 million bbls.

Distillate stocks, which include diesel and gasoil, increased by 123,000 bbls to 114.41 million bbls - the highest in 13 weeks.

By Debarati Bhattacharjee

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