U.S. crude stocks were expected to drop for the fifth consecutive week, while distillate and gasoline were seen rising last week, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Monday.
Six analysts polled by Reuters estimated, on average, that crude stocks fell by about 3.6 million barrels in the week to June 18.
U.S. crude oil stockpiles dropped sharply last week as refineries boosted operations to their highest level since January 2020, signalling continued improvement in demand.
The poll was conducted ahead of reports from the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, due for release at 4:30 p.m. EDT (2030 GMT) on Tuesday and the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the statistical arm of the U.S. Department of Energy, at 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT) on Wednesday.
Analysts estimated that stockpiles of gasoline rose by about 800,000 barrels last week, climbing for the fourth week in a row.
Distillate inventories, which include diesel and heating oil, were seen up by roughly one million barrels.
The rate of refinery utilization was expected to have edged up by 0.4 percentage point last week, from 92.6% of total capacity for the week ended June 11, the poll found.