Going GovernMental: EIA Closure and Reopening

Collecting oil inventories and trade flow data at a government agency is particularly challenging – especially when your agency has shut down. Although the United States government is now back in business, the closure left the financial oil trading community without its weekly benchmark – the Department of Energy’s inventory report. For these traders, correctly anticipating weekly movements in oil inventories can prove to be quite lucrative. The Energy Information Agency (EIA) within the Department of Energy (DOE) reports weekly data which is based on initial estimated volumes that are then revised over the subsequent two months. As such, the weekly benchmark tends to be more of a barometer of market sentiment rather than a reflection of physical reality. Download here