U.S. crude oil and gasoline inventories were seen decreasing last week, while distillate stockpiles were expected to have risen, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Monday.

Four analysts polled by Reuters estimated on average that crude inventories fell by about 2.9 million barrels in the week to Aug. 25.

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

Crude inventories fell by 6.1 million barrels in the week to Aug. 18 to 433.5 million barrels, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2.8 million-barrel drop.

Analysts estimated stockpiles of gasoline were down by about 1.4 million barrels last week, while distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, increased by about 100,000 barrels.

The rate of refinery utilization was seen 0.1 percentage point higher from 94.5% of total capacity for the week ended Aug. 18, the poll found.

All figures for stocks are in millions of barrels. Refinery runs change is measured in percentage points.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Rahul Paswan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sharon Singleton)