Check Your Local Gas Station This Week

Photo Credit: Mike Mozart

U.S. Crude Oil Inventories predicted to increase by 630K barrels. 

The total amount of commercial crude oil barrels held by a U.S. firm directly influences the petroleum market. The change in U.S. Crude Oil Inventories is the weekly deviation of commercial crude oil barrels held by U.S. companies. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) will report on this oil development this coming Wednesday (June 20th). This would be the 24th week in 2018 that oil inventories are recorded. The information released by the EIA can influence inflation in general, as the EIA’s report impacts the price of petroleum products.

 

After falling 4143 thousand (K) barrels in Week 23, Estimize predicts that the the amount of barrels in Week 24 will increase by 630K barrels. Given that the previous week (week 23) changed by -4143K barrels, this is not surprising. The trend in oil inventories can be predicted by looking at the previous week: if that previous week is negative, then the current week should be positive and vice versa. If oil inventories outpace demand, then the price of oil and petroleum products—such as gas and plastic—will go down. So, check your local gas station. You may get lucky!