US crude oil inventories jump despite retreat in imports

US commercial crude oil inventories expanded by 4.5m barrels in the week ended on 6 March, according to the Energy Information Administration.

The US Department of Energy’s statistical arm added that total motor gasoline inventories decreased by 200,000 barrels while those for distillates rose by 2.5m barrels.

The stock build materialised despite an average drop in the volume of crude imports of 575,000 barrels per day.

The degree of refinery capacity use stood at 87.8%.

As of 15:47 front month Brent crude futures on the ICE were bouncing 1.1% to hit $57.01 per barrel after the previous day’s weakness.