Yesterday's weekly EIA inventory report showed a 14.4 million-barrel build to oil inventories, the largest since weekly records began in 1982.
Here at ClipperData, we use U.S. Customs bills to report oil imports in a timely fashion. Imports play a key role in the weekly inventory data, making a major contribution to supply, and unsurprisingly, have a big influence on inventory numbers.
Comparing our numbers to those reported by the EIA shows their import data lagging behind the totals reported for the weeks ending October 14 and October 21, and then playing catch-up in the last week, the one ending October 28.
In the two weeks prior, the EIA reported import numbers into the U.S. Gulf coast that were significantly below the Customs totals. For the week ending October 14, EIA imports into PADD 3 were 550,000 barrels per day below the Customs number, and 116,000 bpd below for the week ending October 21.
For the week ending October 28, there was a massive correction in the data, and the EIA reported imports that were 522,000 bpd higher than Customs data.
(Click to enlarge)
Not only do we believe that the EIA missed import volume in the weeks ending October 14 and October 21, but the massive stock build in the week ending October 28 suggests that there was some pent-up stock building that was not reported for at least one week if not two, and that led to the high October 28 number.
Taking a look at the stock change over a three-week period yields a similar result to that of EIA's PADD3 imports: they are in line with our numbers. The EIA's total stock change over the last three weeks is an 8.6 million bbl build, in line with our projection of 8.5 million bbls.
This is an unusual time shift in the EIA data. Usually the agency is much more in line with the numbers reported by Customs, and this looks like a one-off occurrence.
(Click to enlarge)
By Matt Smith
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Comments
The question remains still are they honestly trying to report or are they working to help manipulate the market?
This same agency faked over supply back in the 80's when Russia tried to abandon the dollar. Oil prices collapsed and so did Russia back then. Russia can not be so easily bombed into submission like Iraq and Libya and other ME nations. Also, with the help of a economic metaphor, Russia and China are now married in their march along the Silk Road.
Times have changed. IMHO