U.S. crude stocks likely down 0.8M barrels last week - API

Investing.com -- U.S. crude oil stocks likely fell last week, with declines in inventories of gasoline and distillates too, petroleum industry group API indicated in a preliminary report on Wednesday ahead of official inventory data.

The U.S. crude inventory balance possibly slid by 0.797 million barrels during the week ended July 14, according to the API, or American Petroleum Institute. The petroleum industry group reported a crude build of 3.026M barrels in the prior week to July 7.

Along from the broader crude draw, the API cited a drop of 3.0M barrels last week at the Cushing, Oklahoma hub that takes delivery of U.S. crude. In the prior week, the API reported a Cushing deficit of 2.15M barrels.

On the fuels side, API reported a gasoline inventory drop of 2M barrels and a distillate stock decline of 0.1M barrels. In the previous week, it noted a 1.004M barrel build for gasoline and 2.908M gain for distillates.

The API numbers serve as a precursor to official inventory data on the same due from the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday.

EIA seen reporting crude draw and slight change in fuel balances

For last week, analysts tracked by Investing.com expect the EIA to report a crude stockpile draw of 0.905 million barrels, versus the 5.946M barrel rise reported during the week to July 7.

Gasoline inventories are expected to be little changed, similar to the previous week. Automotive fuel gasoline is the No. 1 U.S. fuel product.

With distillate stockpiles, the expectation is for a climb of 0.493M barrels versus the prior week’s gain of 4.815M. Distillates are refined into heating oil, diesel for trucks, buses, trains and ships and fuel for jets.