Analysts Predict Slight Decline in U.S. Crude Oil Inventories
Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expect a small decrease in U.S. crude oil and distillate fuel stocks ahead of official government data.
Analysts and traders surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expect a modest decline in U.S. crude oil inventories for the week ending October 16. The average estimate from nine participants predicts that commercial crude stocks fell by 300,000 barrels, bringing the total to 415.3 million barrels.
Forecasts for other fuel types show a mixed outlook. Gasoline inventories are expected to remain unchanged at 208.3 million barrels, while distillate fuel stocks, which primarily consist of diesel, are projected to have decreased by 1.3 million barrels to 101.3 million barrels. Refinery capacity utilization is expected to see a slight increase of 0.1 percentage points, reaching 93.6%.
The Energy Information Administration is scheduled to release the official inventory data on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. ET to confirm these projections.
