US crude stocks fall amid higher refinery runs

Front-month ICE Brent crude futures declined by $0.37/bbl in the first hour after the official weekly oil figures from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) were released today.

PHOTO: Oil refinery and pipeline in the desert during sunset. Getty Images

Commercial crude oil inventories in the US dropped by 1.95 million bbls to 445 million bbls on 15 March, driven by rising refining activity, according to the EIA data

Refinery crude runs in the US rose by 127,000 b/d to hit their highest level in two months, as refinery utilisation increased by 1 percentage point to 87.8%.

Gasoline stocks dropped by a massive 3.31 million bbls over the week to 231 million bbls – the lowest in 12 weeks, indicating strong demand.

Distillate stocks, which include diesel and gasoil, rose by 624,000 bbls to 119 million bbls.

By Debarati Bhattacharjee

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