US crude stocks drop to lowest level since December 2022

The front-month ICE Brent contract has gained by $0.65/bbl in the first 40 minutes after the official weekly oil figures from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) were released today.

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

Commercial US crude inventories were drawn by 6.13 million bbls on the week, to 433.52 million bbls on 18 August, according to the EIA's latest figures released today. That was the lowest stock level since December last year.

The weekly stock draw was far bigger than the 2.42 million-bbl draw estimated by the American Petroleum Institute (API) yesterday.

The country's refinery utilisation remained steady at 95% in the latest week.  

Gasoline stocks increased by 1.47 million bbls over the week to 218 million bbls - the highest in three weeks.

Distillate stocks, which include diesel and gasoil, increased by 945,000 bbls to 117 million bbls, which was also the highest in three weeks.

By Debarati Bhattacharjee

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