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

Five analysts polled by Reuters estimated on average that crude inventories fell by about 3 million barrels in the week to Dec. 29.

The poll was conducted ahead of reports from the American Petroleum Institute industry group, due at 4:30 p.m. EST (2130 GMT) on Wednesday, and the Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the U.S. Department of Energy, due at 11:00 a.m. EST (1600 GMT) on Thursday, delayed by a day due to New Year’s holiday on Monday.

U.S. crude inventoriesUSOILC=ECI fell by 7.1 million barrels to 436.6 million barrels in the week to Dec. 22, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2.7 million-barrel drop.

Analysts estimated stockpiles of gasoline USOILG=ECI were up by about 700,000 barrels last week, and distillate stockpiles USOILD=ECI, which include diesel and heating oil, were seen increasing by about 900,000 barrels.

The rate of refinery utilization USOIRU=ECI was expected to decrease 0.1 percentage point from 93.3% of total capacity in the previous week, the poll found.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Daksh Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by David Gregorio)