LOS ANGELES: Brent crude rose close to $110 a barrel yesterday due to mounting tensions in Ukraine, while prices for US oil fell after a report showed a huge build in stockpiles in the world’s largest oil consumer.
Ukrainian government forces and separatist pro-Russian militia staged rival shows of force in eastern Ukraine amid escalating rhetoric on the eve of crucial talks on the former Soviet state’s future. Meanwhile, growing oil stockpiles in the United States have pulled benchmark prices there lower, as production hit the highest level in more than a quarter of a century, and imports continued to rise.
Crude oil stocks rose 10 million barrels to 394 million barrels in the week ending April 11, according to the Energy Information Administration, far more than the 2.3-million-barrel build expected by analysts. Inventories were boosted in part by a 5.2-million-barrel build on the Gulf Coast, to the highest level since the EIA began collecting data in 1990.
“(US) crude imports were up again because we’re seeing, in part, a rebound in the Houston Ship Channel tanker traffic after the recent incident,” said Phil Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. Brent crude for June delivery rose by a dollar earlier in the session but pared gains to trade up 49 cents at $109.85 a barrel by 12:54 pm 1654 GMT, its highest level since March 4. The May contract expired on Tuesday. US crude for May delivery fell 35 cents to $103.40. Reuters
