US crude stocks grow amid lower crude oil exports

Front-month ICE Brent crude futures remained stable 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 rose by 3.21 million bbls to 451 million bbls on 29 March, according to the EIA data.

The stock build was mainly due to lower crude oil exports into the US, which fell by 159,000 b/d last week. On the other hand, crude oil imports rose by 75,000 b/d.

Refinery crude runs in the US dropped by 35,000 b/d, as refinery utilisation fell by 0.1 percentage point to 88.6% last week.

Gasoline stocks fell by 4.26 million bbls over the week to 228 million bbls, indicating strong demand.

Distillate stocks, which include diesel and gasoil, fell by 1.27 million bbls to 116 million bbls – its lowest level since December, last year.

By Debarati Bhattacharjee

Please get in touch with comments or additional info to news@engine.online