Brent falls despite US crude stock draw

Front-month ICE Brent crude futures dropped by around $0.29/bbl in the first 20 minutes after official weekly US crude stock figures were released today, and despite a crude stock decline.

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

Commercial US crude inventories dropped by 5.50 million bbls on the week, to 431.07 million bbls on 29 December, according to the EIA.

The weekly stock draw was smaller than the American Petroleum Institute's (API) projection of a 7.4 million-bbl draw a day earlier.

Official EIA data showed that US refinery utilisation rose by a marginal 0.2 percentage points to 94% last week – the highest since September last year.

Gasoline stocks jumped by 10.90 million bbls over the week to 237 million bbls - the highest since March 2023.

Distillate stocks, which include diesel and gasoil, have risen by a similar 10.09 million bbls to 126 million bbls – the highest since January 2022.

By Debarati Bhattacharjee

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