OIL: EIA Oil Stocks Preview: Crude Draw and Lower Refinery Runs Expected

EIA Oil Inventory Preview: The EIA weekly petroleum status report will be released at 10:30ET (15:30BST) today.

• Crude inventories are expected to draw by 1.55mbbls, US gasoline to build by 0.38mbbl and distillates to build 0.55mbbl for the week ending July 19, according to a Bloomberg survey. US crude inventories last week showed a larger than expected draw despite higher imports with Canadian imports rising to a record high. US crude production is holding at a record high of 13.3mb/d in July despite a steady decline in the number of drilling rigs. Crude runs fell more than expected last week and expectation is for a further decline by 0.59% this week, according to a Bloomberg survey.
• Gasoline stocks built last week driven by a drop in implied demand to counter some of the gains seen in previous weeks and despite a drop in production on the week. Four week implied demand fell back below levels seen this time last year. U.S. retail gasoline demand fell 0.5-1.0% for the week ending July 20, according to GasBuddy estimates, loosely estimated at ~8.841mb/d.
• Distillates stocks also gained last week as four week average implied demand fell back further below the seasonal five year average.
• The API data yesterday showed a draw of 3.86mbbl, a Cushing draw of 1.58mbbl, gasoline draw of 2.77mbbl and distillates build of 1.5mbbl.