LOL -- It's Always A "Surprise" -- September 4, 2019

Oilprice: "crude oil inventory build takes oil markets by surprise."

Okay, that headline got my attention. I expected a build of 3 to 5 million bbls after an 11-million-bble draw last week.

So what was this "surprise" build? One million bbls? Two million bbls? Six million bbls?

Hold on to your hat.

A build of 401,000 bbls. Give me a break. That's a build? That's flat. No change. A country that produces upwards of twelve million bopd. A small state that produces a million bopd. And a build of 401,000 bbls gets a "surprise" headline.

The only surprise is the false precision. Calculated down to one-thousand bbls. A single DOT-111 railroad tank car carries 30,000 gallons or about 700 bbls of oil. So, the API can estimate the build/draw down to a single rail tank car. Color me impressed.

After the report, WTI went up another half a percent to close at $56.55.