Brent Stays Afloat on Drop in US Inventories

Brent crude oil slipped following US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony to Congress, but falling stockpiles in the US kept prices afloat. The commodity traded at $108.52 at 5:49 GMT on Thursday morning. At his testimony to Congress Bernanke revealed no new information about the central bank's plan to taper its bond buying program. When Bernanke first announced that the bank was planning to roll in its $85 billion per month bond buying program, markets shifted and the dollar began a roller coaster ride. Last week, in an attempt to calm investors, Bernanke announced that the bank was planning to continue buying assets at the current pace for the remainder of the year. On Thursday, he reiterated this sentiment and emphasized that the Fed was going to adapt to the US economy, so there is no concrete timeline for the tapering. Though Bernanke's testimony caused Brent prices to slide a bit on a stronger dollar, prices were underpinned by data that showed US refineries had consumed the most crude since August in 2005. Data showed that US refineries neared an all time high, refining 17.814, only slightly below April's highs of 17.819.

reported that the US Energy Information Administration released data that showed US crude inventories falling by 7 million barrels last week. The fall contributed to the 20 million barrel reduction in US inventories over the past two weeks. The data has boosted confidence that the number one oil consuming nation is getting back on track for recovery.