Crude and distillate stockpiles remain high

29/09/2009

Crude stockpiles in the US rose by 500,000 barrels in the week ending September 25th, following an unexpected increase the week before, reports a Reuters poll.

The poll carried out by the newswire also found that distillate inventories, which include heating oil and diesel fuel, rose by 1.1 million barrels each.

Khalid Al-Falih, the head of Saudi Arabia's state oil firm, said: "Oil demand in the US and Europe remains weak but the economic crisis will not lead to a permanent reduction in global consumption."

He added that it would take time to resolve the current situation where the industry is experiencing low demand and growing stockpiles.

Stockpile information is due late on Tuesday (September 29th) from the American Petroleum Institute and on Wednesday (September 30th) from the Energy Information Administration.

Last week it was widely reported that distillate stocks had increased by more than anticipated, leaving them at their highest level since January 14th 1983.