Analysts expect stockpile gains

18/03/2009

A panel of experts is anticipating that stockpiles of crude and derivatives such as heating oil rose in the US last week as demand remained weak.

A median estimate from the 14 analysts polled by Bloomberg put the total increase in stockpiles at 1.5 million barrels.

The forecast comes ahead of the weekly inventories report from the Energy Department which will be published later today (March 18th).

"We are seeing a bit of caution ahead of the Energy Department numbers, especially after the API report yesterday," said Peter Luxton, an energy analyst at Informa Global Markets.

"It is a general lack of product demand," he said.

Weak inventory data typically has a downward effect on crude, heating oil, DERV and other petroleum products as investors take stock of the low demand for the fuel.

Crude futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange have fallen in trading this morning following the publication of the Bloomberg poll.