The American Petroleum Institute reported late Tuesday that U.S. crude supplies rose by 2.7 million barrels for the week ended Dec. 18, according to sources. The data also reportedly showed gasoline stockpiles shrank by 224,000 barrels, while distillate inventories rose by 1.03 million barrels. Crude stocks at the Cushing, Okla., storage hub, meanwhile, climbed by 341,000 barrels for the week, sources said. Inventory data from the Energy Information Administration will be released Wednesday.
On average, the EIA data are expected to have declined by 4.7 million barrels to around 495.4 million barrels ending Dec, 18, according to a survey of analysts conducted by S&P Global Platts, which also forecasts supply increases of 1.4 million barrels for gasoline and a drawdown of 1.1 million barrels in distillates. February West Texas Intermediate crude CLG21, 0.32% was trading at $46.86 a barrel in electronic trading on Tuesday, compared with Tuesday’s settlement at $47.02 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.