Global crude futures weakened sharply Thursday following the release of
the US Energy Information Administration's weekly oil stocks data, which
showed an unexpected build in US commercial crude stocks.

December futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange were hovering around
$93.60/b prior to the release of the EIA data. The contract dropped by as much
as $2.23/b to $91.86/b following the release of the numbers, to later rebound
above $92/b.

December futures on NYMEX were down $1.77 to $92.32/barrel at 15:53 GMT,
while December Brent on the Intercontinental Exchange shed $1.26 cents to
$90.10/b.

The contract had opened 28 cents lower at $93.81/b Thursday, already
coming under some pressure on a stronger US dollar.

The EIA reported a 2.8 million barrel build in commercial crude stocks
for the week ended November 9, compared to analysts' expectations of a 700,000
barrel draw.

The American Petroleum Institute was slightly more bearish, reporting a
3.2 million build in commercial crude stocks.

Stocks at Cushing, Oklahoma, home of the NYMEX delivery point, are
unchanged, according to the EIA.

December heating oil futures were 2.98 cents lower at $2.5436/gal despite
lower-than-expected inventories. The EIA reported a 2 million barrel draw in
distillates, compared with analysts' estimates of a smaller, 700,000 barrel
drop.

Front-month RBOB futures weakened as the EIA reported a 700,000 barrel
build in stocks in contrast to analysts' expectations of a draw of 900,000
barrels in gasoline inventories. December RBOB on NYMEX fell as much as 5.54
cents to $2.3150/gal. The contract later recovered slightly to trade at
$2.3244/gal at 15:53 GMT, 4.60 cents lower on Wednesday's session.

--Funda Saygin, funda_saygin@platts.com