Downtime for Buzzard, one of the North Sea’s largest fields, and...

  1. Downtime for Buzzard, one of the North Sea’s largest fields, and a drop in American oil stockpiles saw crude prices bobble higher on Wednesday.

    In London trading Brent crude rose over 20 cents per barrel to US$102.75, while West Texas Intermediary futures gained a similar margin to change hands just above US$94.

    Buzzard, one of the key inputs to the Brent contract, is expected to come back online on Thursday. It had been shut due to maintenance.

    US stockpile stats from the American Petroleum Institute, released on Tuesday, revealed another 1.3mln barrel drop – though the inventory at the Cushing hub increased for a second week.

    Experts predict the second and more closely followed of the weekly inventory reports, which comes from the US Department of Energy, will show a 2.5mln drop in stockpiles following the 4.4mln barrel drop last week.

     

 
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