May 21, 2025 [Reuters]- U.S. crude oil stockpiles likely fell last week, along with distillate and gasoline inventories, a preliminary Reuters poll found on Monday.

Five analysts polled by Reuters, ahead of weekly inventory data, estimated that crude inventories fell on average by about 1.4 million barrels in the week to May 16.

The poll was conducted ahead of weekly reports from the American Petroleum Institute at 4:30 p.m. EDT (2030 GMT) on Tuesday, and the Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the U.S. Department of Energy, at 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT) on Wednesday.

Crude inventories rose by 3.5 million barrels to 441.8 million barrels in the week ended May 9, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.1 million-barrel draw.

Analysts estimated distillate inventories, which include diesel and heating oil fell by about 1.4 million barrels last week, while gasoline stockpiles, decreased by about 900,000 barrels.

The rate of refinery utilization was estimated to have risen by 1 percentage points from the 90.2% of total capacity in the previous week, the poll found.

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