Sept 9 (Askume) – U.S. crude oil and distillate inventories are expected to have risen last week, while gasoline inventories may have fallen, a preliminary Askume survey showed on Monday.
The average estimate of eight analysts polled by Askume was that crude oil inventories rose by about 800,000 barrels in the week to September 6.
The survey was conducted ahead of a report from the American Petroleum Institute industry group at 4:30 p.m. ET (2030 GMT) on Tuesday and a report from the Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the U.S. Department of Energy, at 10:30 a.m. ET (1430 GMT) on Wednesday.
The EIA said crude oil inventories excluding strategic petroleum reserves fell by 6.9 million barrels to 418.3 million barrels in the week ended Aug. 30, while a Askume poll had expected a draw of 993,000 barrels.
Analysts estimate gasoline inventories (USOILG=ECI) fell by about 400,000 barrels last week, while distillate stocks, including diesel and heating oil, declined.(USOILD=ECI) is expected to rise by 300,000 barrels.
Refinery utilisation (USOIRU=ECI) is estimated to have fallen 0.8 percentage points from 93.3% of total capacity in the previous week, the survey found .
All inventory data are in millions of barrels. Changes in refinery output are measured in percentage points.
