Re-Balancing -- API Data -- February 6, 2018; API Forecast -- A Sizeable Increase; In Fact, A Small Decrease In US Crude Oil Inventories

I'll be off the net in a few minutes. My afternoon driving begins: picking up the three granddaughters at different locations/different times between 3:45 p.m. and 4:45. Then Olivia to soccer practice and Arianna to water polo practice. I should be back on the net about 7:00 p.m. Depending on circumstances, I could post short updates between 5:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand. When calculating the number of weeks it will take to "re-balance" supply/demand of US crude oil, I only use the EIA data that is released on Wednesday mornings at 10:30 a.m. Eastern time. But I do post the API data that is released at 3:30 p.m. Central time. The API data and the EIA data "never" seem to match; in fact, they never even seem to come close to each other's data. They are obviously measuring US crude oil inventories differently. Be that as it may, I find it interesting to check in on the API data.

The API data today:

• API last week revealed a huge increase in oil inventories, up 3.3 million bbls
• today, the API forecast a similar build-up of 2.5 million bbls
• in fact, the API reports a draw of 1.05 million bbls (a 3.55-million-bbl difference, and, in addition in opposite directions: the forecast was for an increase; the actual data revealed a decrease

What does this mean for the EIA number that will be released tomorrow? Beats me. As noted above, there seems to be no relationship between what the API reports and what the EIA reports.

I find the API data at this link. But the information is very transitory. I think it disappears from that site in an hour or so.