Private oil survey data shows larger than expected draw for the headline crude number

<p>The inventory data from the private survey is out now, official data (usually) comes out on Wednesday morning (US time), but this week due to the holiday Monday it'll be Thursday morning.</p><p>–</p><p>Expectations I had seen centred on:</p><ul><li>Headline crude -2.1 mn barrels</li><li>Distillates +0.2 mn bbls</li><li>Gasoline -1 mn</li></ul><p>–</p><p>This data point is from a privately-conducted survey by the American Petroleum Institute (API):</p><ul><li>It's a survey of oil storage facilities and companies</li></ul><p>The official report is due Wednesday morning US time. The two reports are quite different. The official government data comes from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA):</p><ul><li>Its based on data from the Department of Energy and other government agencies</li><li>Whereas information on total crude oil storage levels and variations from the previous week's levels are both provided by the API report, the EIA report also provides statistics on inputs and outputs from refineries, as well as other significant indicators of the status of the oil market, and storage levels for various grades of crude oil, such as light, medium, and heavy.</li><li>the EIA report is held to be more accurate and comprehensive than the survey from the API</li></ul>

This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at www.forexlive.com.