Brent gains despite big US crude stock build

Front-month ICE Brent crude futures increased by $0.74/bbl 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 increased by massive 10.23 million bbls to a three-week high of 424.12 million bbls in the week to 9 December. The build-up was even greater than the American Petroleum Institute's (API) earlier projection of a 7.8 million bbls rise.

Releases from Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPRs) accelerated to a nine-week high of 4.74 million bbls in the week, leaving 382 million bbls in SPR storage.

Gasoline stocks rose by 4.50 million bbls on the week, and diesel stocks by 1.36 million bbls, which may signal weaker demand.

US refinery utilisation declined by 3.3 percentage points to a five-week low of 92.2%.

By Nithin Chandran

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