Reuters with the headline numbers:
- Crude stocks fell by 2.09 million barrels in the week ended October 2, the sources said on the condition of anonymity.Gasoline stocks fell by 1.37 million barrels, while distillate inventories rose by about 461,000 barrels, compared with a week earlier, the sources said.
API vs EIA: how the two weekly US oil inventory reports differ
Oil traders get two readings of US crude and fuel stockpiles each week. They cover the same ground, but they come from different organisations, use different methods, and carry different weight in the market.
The first comes from the American Petroleum Institute (API), the main US oil and gas industry trade group. It is usually released on Tuesday at 4:30 pm US Eastern time. Member companies report voluntarily, so the survey covers a large share of US capacity but not all of it. The full report is sold by subscription, although the headline crude, gasoline, distillate and Cushing figures are widely reported by news services within minutes of release.
The second comes from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the statistical arm of the US Department of Energy. Its Weekly Petroleum Status Report usually arrives on Wednesday at 10:30 am Eastern. Reporting is mandatory for refiners, terminals, pipelines and other operators, and the data are free and public. The EIA report is also broader. Alongside inventories, it includes estimates of domestic crude production, imports and exports, refinery utilisation, implied product demand, and Strategic Petroleum Reserve levels.
Because the samples and methods differ, the two reports often disagree, sometimes by several million barrels and occasionally in direction. A large API build can be followed by an EIA draw, or the reverse.
That is why markets treat them differently. The API figures act as an early indication that can move prices in thin after-hours trading and shape expectations. The EIA numbers are the benchmark: they are mandatory, more comprehensive and official, and they generally drive the bigger reaction when they land against analyst forecasts.
The practical takeaway is to treat the API as a preview and the EIA as the more authoritative count. Neither is final. The EIA’s weekly estimates are later reconciled against its more complete monthly data. US holidays can push either release back by a day.
This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.