Ahead of the Bell: Drop in crude reserves expected

NEW YORK - The Energy Department will likely report a 3.2 million-barrel drop in crude oil reserves on Wednesday for the week ended July 3, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.

The Energy Information Administration releases its weekly report at 10:30 a.m. EDT.

Platts also expects gasoline stockpiles to rise by 900,000 barrels, distillate stocks to rise by 1.7 million barrels and refinery capacity to slip 0.5 percentage point to 86.5 percent.

A reading above or below estimates can influence market trading.

Last Wednesday, the EIA said for the week ended June 26 crude inventories fell by 3.7 million barrels to 350.2 million barrels; gasoline inventories rose by 2.3 million barrels to 211.2 million barrels; and distillate inventories rose by 2.9 million barrels to 155 million barrels.

Last week's crude oil figure exceeded the drop of 2.2 million barrels analysts expected.

After that report, benchmark crude for August delivery fell 58 cents to settle at $69.31 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.