Crude oil may increase next week on speculation that inventories will decline as imports drop and fuel demand strengthens, a Bloomberg News survey showed.

Thirteen of 27 analysts, or 48 percent, said futures will gain through
Dec. 31, the most bullish response since June. Twelve respondents, or
44 percent, forecast that the market will be little changed and two
said prices will decline. Last week, 46 percent of analysts said oil
would rise.

Supplies of crude oil fell 4.84 million barrels to 327.5 million last
week, the Energy Department said yesterday. Inventories have tumbled
3.6 percent in the past three weeks.

After several “weeks of consecutively price bullish DOE reports, the
market is going to be spooked,” said Jason Schenker, president of
Prestige Economics LLC, an Austin, Texas- based energy consultant.

Inventories of distillate fuel, a category that includes heating oil
and diesel, slipped 3.03 million barrels to 161.3 million, the biggest
decline since April. Gasoline stockpiles fell 883,000 barrels to 216.3
million, the first drop in five weeks.

Imports of crude fell 0.8 percent to 7.71 million barrels a day, the
lowest level since September 2008 when ports were shut because of
hurricanes Gustav and Ike.

Gasoline demand averaged 9.05 million barrels a day in the week ended
Dec. 18, 2 percent higher than a year earlier, the report showed.
Consumption of distillate fuel averaged 3.99 million barrels a day, up
5.2 percent from the previous week and the highest since April.

Crude oil for February delivery has gained $3.63, or 4.9 percent, to
$78.05 a barrel this week on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil
futures have risen 75 percent this year.

The oil survey has correctly predicted the direction of futures 46 percent of the time since its start in April 2004.

Source: Bloomberg

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