US Crude Oil Inventories Fall as Refineries Run Near Full Capacity

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) has released its weekly oil inventory report, showing a decline in commercial US crude oil inventories. The data shows that crude oil stocks decreased by 4.5 million barrels to 424.5 million barrels in the week ending August 28.

This marks a significant change from the previous week's numbers, and it's likely that this increase in demand has contributed to the rise in Brent crude's price. According to the report, refineries operated at 98% of their operable capacity during the week, up from last week's 97.4%. This suggests that refineries are running at full steam, processing as much oil as possible.

The EIA also reported a decrease in gasoline stocks by 1.2 million barrels over the week to 206 million barrels. However, distillate stocks moved 796,000 barrels higher to 104.2 million barrels.