U.S. crude stockpiles were expected to have fallen last week, while distillate and gasoline inventories likely rose, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Monday.

Five analysts polled by Reuters estimated on average that crude inventories fell by about 2.2 million barrels in the week to Dec. 15.

The poll was conducted ahead of reports from the American Petroleum Institute industry group, due at 4:30 p.m. EST (2130 GMT) on Tuesday, and the Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the U.S. Department of Energy, due at 10:30 a.m. EST (1530 GMT) on Wednesday.

Crude inventories USOILC=ECI fell by 4.3 million barrels to 440.8 million barrels in the week to Dec. 8, far exceeding expectations by analysts in a Reuters poll for a 650,000 barrel drop.

REUTERS FORECAST CHANGE FOR WEEK ENDED

12/15/23

ACTUAL FOR WEEK (EIA) ENDED

12/08/23

CHANGE VS PREVIOUS WEEK

YR-AGO CHANGE WEEK ENDED 12/16/22

CRUDE

-2.2 MLN

440.8 MLN

-4.3 MLN

-5.9 MLN

DISTILLATE

1.0 MLN

113.5 MLN

1.5 MLN

-0.2 MLN

GASOLINE

1.7 MLN

224 MLN

0.4 MLN

2.5 MLN

REFINERY RUNS

0.3 PCT PT

90.2%

-0.3 PCT PT

-1.3 PCT PT

NATGAS STORAGE FORECAST

-75 BCF TO -70 BCF (TWO FORECASTS)

Analysts estimated stockpiles of gasoline USOILG=ECI were up by about 1.7 million barrels last week, and distillate stockpiles USOILD=ECI, which include diesel and heating oil, were seen increasing by about 1 million barrels.

The rate of refinery utilization USOIRU=ECI was expected to increase 0.3 percentage point from 90.2% of total capacity in the previous week, the poll found.

All figures for stocks are in millions of barrels. Refinery runs change is measured in percentage points.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Hissay Ongmu Bhutia in Bengaluru)