US oil inventories fall while Brazil's Prio boosts June production

The U.S. Energy Department reported that oil stocks dropped by 3.775 million barrels to 408.359 million barrels for the week ended 26 June. Gasoline inventories fell 2.333 million barrels to 213.966 million, while distillate stocks rose 2.483 million barrels to 108.599 million. Refinery utilization increased to 96.6%, and Cushing hub stocks rose by 709 thousand barrels. Daily crude output slipped to 13.810 million barrels.

Brazilian petroleum company Prio recorded an average output of 178 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day in June, an 8 % increase over May. Over the second quarter the average rose 10.7 % to 172 thousand barrels per day. Production gains came from the Frade and Wahoo fields, while temporary setbacks at the Albacora Leste unit reduced output. Prio sold about 5.43 million barrels in June, up from 5.03 million barrels in May.