U.S. crude oil stockpiles were expected to have fallen last week, while 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 200,000 barrels in the week to Sept. 13.

The poll was conducted ahead of a report from the American Petroleum Institute industry group at 4:30 p.m. EDT (2030 GMT) on Tuesday and one from the Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the U.S. Department of Energy, at 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT) on Wednesday.

Crude inventories rose by 833,000 barrels to 419.1 million barrels in the week ending Sept. 6, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 987,000-barrel rise.

Analysts estimated stockpiles of gasoline USOILG=ECI rose by about 400,000 barrels last week, while distillate inventories USOILD=ECI, which include diesel and heating oil, were expected to remain unchanged last week.

The rate of refinery utilization USOIRU=ECI was estimated to have decreased by 1.2 percentage point from 92.8% of total capacity in the previous week, the poll found.

All figures for stocks are in millions of barrels. Refinery rate changes are measured in percentage points.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Anmol Choubey in Bengaluru; Editing by David Gregorio)