Weekly Petroleum Status Report - EIA - Crude Stocks Down

The weekly EIA report showed crude stocks down again last week (-8.5Mb ), despite a strong rebound in crude output from 11.3 to 12.2 Mb/d. Stocks of distillates (0.9Mb) and gasoline (-1.8Mb) were down as well. Brent 1st-nearvy prices jumped higher to touch $65.42/b, but then fell more than $1/b after the Fed Chairman’s press conference that had a broad negative impact on risky assets, as he suggested the 25bp rate cut may be a one-off decision. The Brent 1st-nearby reference contract is now October. It is trading around $64.3/b this morning. The US imposed sanctions on Iran’s foreign minister yesterday, which just confirms that tensions between the two countries are unlikely to abate in the short-term.