API reports a weekly decline of 2.6 million barrels in U.S. crude supplies, sources say

The American Petroleum Institute reported late Tuesday that U.S. crude supplies fell by 2.6 million barrels for the week ended April 2, according to sources. The data also reportedly showed gasoline stockpiles up nearly 4.6 million barrels, while distillate inventories rose by 2.8 million barrels. Crude stocks at the Cushing, Okla., storage hub, meanwhile, were little changed, down 84,000 barrels for the week, sources said. Inventory data from the Energy Information Administration will be released Wednesday. The EIA is expected to show crude inventories down by 700,000 barrels, according to IHS Markit. It also forecast inventory gains of 200,000 barrels for gasoline and 500,000 barrels for distillates. May West Texas Intermediate crude was at $59.29 barrel in electronic trading, compared with Tuesday’s settlement at $59.33 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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