Oil stocks are well below the highs of the past two years, reflecting a tighter market in the second quarter. The build in the US, Europe and Japan was just over 300,000 b/d in the second quarter, compared with 860,000 b/d a year earlier. This followed three consecutive quarters of stockdraws that left onshore crude and product invento- ries 75mn bl lower than in June last year. And the huge off- shore stockpile that accumulated during the recession, when oil demand slumped, has been largely eroded. Almost 100mn bl of crude and products was being held in floating storage around the world a year ago, but this has now fallen below 55mn bl.
展开▼
