U.S. Crude Oil and Fuel Stockpiles Expected to Fall
(Reuters) – U.S. crude oil and fuel stockpiles are anticipated to have decreased last week, as indicated by an extended Reuters poll on Tuesday.
Five analysts surveyed by Reuters estimated, on average, that crude inventories declined by approximately 1.9 million barrels for the week ending Dec. 20.
According to the EIA, crude inventories dropped by 934,000 barrels to 421 million barrels in the week ending Dec. 13, which was lower than analysts' forecast of a 1.6-million-barrel draw.
| Forecast | Actual | Change from Previous Week | Year-ago Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crude | -1.9 MLN | 421 | -0.9 MLN |
| Distillate | -0.3 MLN | 118.2 | -3.2 MLN |
| Gasoline | -1.1 MLN | 222 | 2.3 MLN |
| Refinery Runs | -0.4 PCT | 91.8 | -0.6 PCT |
| Natgas Storage | -100 BCF | -99 BCF (Six forecasts) |
Analysts projected that gasoline stockpiles decreased by about 1.1 million barrels last week, while distillate inventories, which encompass diesel and heating oil, were expected to fall by around 300,000 barrels.
The refinery utilization rate was estimated to have declined by 0.4 percentage points from 91.8% of total capacity in the prior week, according to the poll.
Sources from the market indicated that U.S. crude oil and distillate stocks saw a drop, while gasoline stocks increased last week, referencing figures from the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday.
Crude stocks reportedly fell by 3.2 million barrels for the week ending Dec. 20. Additionally, gasoline inventories rose by 3.9 million barrels, whereas distillate stocks decreased by 2.5 million barrels, the sources stated, remaining anonymous.
The poll was conducted prior to a report from the American Petroleum Institute scheduled for 4:30 p.m. EST (2130 GMT) on Tuesday and one from the Energy Information Administration at 1 p.m. EST (1800 GMT) on Friday.
Given the Christmas holiday, the EIA's weekly report, typically released on Wednesday, was postponed to Friday.
All stock figures are measured in millions of barrels while refinery-rate changes are represented in percentage points.
| Organization | Crude | Distillate | Gasoline | Refinery Runs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LSEG | 1.5 | -0.7 | 0.5 | -0.4 |
| Macquarie Group | -3.8 | 0.9 | 2.5 | |
| Price Futures Group | -3.0 | -3.0 | -3.0 | -1.0 |
| Ritterbusch Associates | -2.0 | 1.9 | -1.0 | -0.4 |
| Rystad Energy | -0.6 | -1.1 | -2.7 | 0.3 |
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