US Oil Inventories: API Data Differs from EIA Projections
The American Petroleum Institute (API) has released its weekly survey on US oil inventories, providing data that differs significantly from the official report from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).
According to the API survey, crude oil inventories increased by 1.8 million barrels for the week ending January 13, 2023. This projection was significantly higher than the EIA’s report, which showed a much smaller increase of 528,000 barrels.
The API survey also projected a decrease of 0.9 million barrels in distillates and 1.4 million barrels in gasoline inventories. In contrast, the EIA’s report indicated declines of 1.2 million barrels and 1.3 million barrels, respectively.
The discrepancies between the API survey and the EIA report have raised questions about the accuracy of the data. The API survey is based on a voluntary response from a sample of companies, while the EIA report is based on more comprehensive data collection. As a result, the EIA report is generally considered to be more reliable.
The conflicting data highlights the challenges in accurately tracking oil inventories, which are crucial for understanding supply and demand dynamics in the energy market.
