Oil supplies up 1.5 mln barrels, trade group says

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch)
Crude-oil supplies rose 1.5 million in the week ended May 18, a trade group said late Tuesday
The American Petroleum Institute also reported gasoline inventories down 4.5 million barrels, and inventories of distillates down 235,000 barrels
The report comes ahead of the more closely watched official numbers from the Energy Information Administration, due Wednesday
Analysts polled by Platts forecast inventories of crude up 750,000 barrels, and gasoline stocks down 200,000 barrels.
Supplies of distillates, which include heating oil, are seen down 350,000 barrels