The Aug Brent futures flat price saw a fairly rangebound afternoon, generally trading in a narrow range between $77.80/bbl and $78.10/bbl. After seeing an intraday low of $77.20/bbl as of 16:25 BST it has since ticked back up to $78.30/bbl (time of writing). In an unexpected turn US crude inventories were expected to see a 2.3mbbls draw yet, they saw a rise of 1.2mbbls. Gasoline inventories also increased by 2.1mbbls from last week alongside the propane/propylene inventories, which increased by 2.5mbbls last week, 14% above the 5-year average for this time of year. This has occurred amidst US refiners running flat out with 17.1mbpd in crude refinery runs in the US, which is the highest level since 2019. The front and 6-month Brent spreads are $0.33/bbl and $2.18/bbl, respectively.
