The Brent futures flat price for the prompt contract has seen a stronger afternoon, rising almost $1/bbl from $73.46/bbl at 12:00 GMT to highs of $74.33/bbl at 16:45 GMT.
The EIA announced a second consecutive crude inventory draw, with stocks decreasing by 4.26mbbls. When oil products were included as well, the decline in stocks totalled over 10mbbls, the most notable overall draw since mid-October. The crude inventory fall was in line with and to a greater extent than the API stats released last night, which publicised a draw of 2.35mbbls. Cushing storage saw an uptick for the eighth consecutive week, increasing by a further 1.2mbbls. OPEC has maintained its forecast for world oil demand growth in 2023 and 2024 at 2.46mbbls/d and 2.25mbbls/d, respectively, unchanged from last month.
The front and 6-month Brent futures spreads are at -$0.27/bbl and -$0.57/bbl, respectively.
