The Jun Brent futures flat price saw rangebound price action until 15:38 BST, when prices rallied to $88.70/bbl only to drop below $87.80/bbl at 16:10 BST. The benchmark crude contract found support here, and rose back to $88/bbl as of 17:20 BST (time of writing). Brent’s rally likely emerged on the back of the EIA announcing a draw exceeding 6.3mbbls in US crude oil inventories against estimates of a build in stocks. In addition, while US gasoline stocks saw a draw of over 630kbbls, US distillate stocks recorded a build surpassing 1.6mbbls against expectations of a small draw. In macroeconomic news, German business morale improved more than expected in April enabling expectation that the worst may be over for the EU’s largest economy. Finally, the front-month and six-month Brent spreads are currently at $1/bbl and $4.65/bbl, respectively.
