The American Petroleum Institute reported late last month that its weekly statistical bulletin will be released at 9 a.m. EST each Wednesday, beginning Jan. 8, 2003.
API notified its subscribers in order to address contractual arrangements and to give subscribers reasonable notice in advance of this change.
"API has concluded that users may better assess industry conditions if API released its data concurrently with that of the (Department of Energy's) Energy Information Administration," a news release said Nov. 1. Currently, API releases its inventory numbers after trading closes on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Tuesday.
Ed Murphy, general manager of API's downstream operations, told OGJ that API decided to release its report simultaneously with the EIA "to provide a more complete picture of the state of the industry."
Traders will be more informed when they can focus on both estimates and the range of numbers provided by the two, he said.
"In most cases, the range is very small, but there are differences" in the API and EIA numbers, he said. "There is always a slight difference because in both cases, it's a sample. We are estimating, and DOE is estimating. We are doing that independently. Both samples never are going to be exact, and it's not exactly the same sample," Murphy said of the two reports.
"In some cases, I think we get more reporting than DOE does, and additional companies can make a significant difference," he said.
The statistical information will be collected and disseminated in the same manner, API said.
