The Platts pre-report analyst survey of EIA/API estimates suggests a draw of 2.25 million barrels in US oil stocks
Platts Survey of Analysts
- Crude oil stocks down 2.25 million barrels
- Gasoline stocks up 800,000 barrels
- Distillates stocks up 1.5 million barrels
- Refinery utilization, or run rate, down 0.9% to 86.0%
New York, NY - September 21, 2009
Analysts expect weekly U.S. oil data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) and the American Petroleum Institute (API) to show a decline in commercial crude stocks of 2.25 million barrels for the reporting week ended September 18, a survey showed Monday.
API is scheduled to release its data at 4:30 p.m. EDT (2030 GMT) Tuesday. The EIA will release its report at 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT) Wednesday.
“The continued narrowing in the front of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) crude oil futures curve and the onset of fall maintenance season will keep imports at low levels while refiners run down inventories,” said Linda Rafield, senior oil analyst and editor of the weekly Platts Futures and Derivatives Review, published as a supplement to Platts Oilgram Price Report.
Crude imports the week ending September 11 were a fairly low 8.903 million barrels per day (b/d), according to data from EIA.
And the decline in crude inventories is expected despite an anticipated 0.9-percentage-point drop in refinery utilization rates to 86%. “The decline in refinery run rates will likely not be steep enough to offset low imports,” Rafield said.
Gasoline stocks are expected by analysts to build 800,000 barrels, with a steady decline in demand due to the typical seasonal drop off that occurs in September.
Analysts project a 1.5-million-barrel build in middle distillates, in line with historical seasonal tendencies.