Trust But Verify -- February 21, 2016

Updates

Later, 10:08 p.m. Central Time: see first comment; a reader provides this source for another look -- http://www.eia.gov/petroleum/supply/weekly/pdf/wpsrall.pdf. Page 12 of the download or page 7 of the EIA document as the EIA numbers the supporting documents.
 

Original Post

 

Last summer, July 29, 2015, John Kemp twittered that gasoline stocks in PADD 5 were at a historic low level, critically low in fact, according to the EIA and he posted a graph, which I included at the link. It was presented at a time when gasoline prices were coming down across the US but were stubbornly elevated on the west coast.

I was curious to see that how things have changed (or not). This link takes you to the source, a dynamic link: https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=WGTSTP51&f=W.

The graph can be embedded which I did:


Maybe it's just me, but it looks like the July 29, 2015, graphic was a bit of hyperbole. Gasoline stocks in PADD 5 have a predictable and explainable pattern.

For what it's worth.