The Crude Oil Stocks Change is a weekly report about the inventories of crude oil, and it is released by the Energy Information Administration. Usually it is hard to predict the actual outcome and there is often significant positive or negative surprises, which lead to volatile price action. The weekly release is on every Wednesday at 14:30 GMT time. The increased volatility usually has a significant effect for the Canadian Dollar, and the major currency pair of USD/CAD. The number which is reported corresponds to the weekly change of inventories, in number of barrels that companies in the US hold. There is an inverse relationship between the number of inventories reported and the demand of the crude oil. If there is an increase of the crude oil inventories, which is more than the expectation, then there is weak demand for oil, and this should be interpreted as negative for the oil prices. If there is a lower increase in the number of crude oil inventories compared to the expectation, then there is a strong demand for oil, and this is supportive or positive for the oil prices.
The United States Crude Oil Stocks Change
The United States Crude Oil Stocks Change, had a recent reading of -7.564 million barrels reported on Wednesday 12th July 2017. This reading was more than the forecast of -2.850 million barrels. The historical all-time high and all-time low prices for the United States Crude Oil Stocks Change were reported in October of 2016 for the all-time high price of 14.42 million of barrels, and in January of 199, the all-time low price of -15.22 million of barrels. The next release is on July 19th 2017.
How oil prices influence the economy?
Increase in crude oil inventories corresponds to lower demand and is therefore bearish for oil prices. Decline in inventories or less than expected increase in crude oil can be a bullish sign for crude prices.
Crude oil is one of the most important resources on the planet. It is not surprising that oil can affect national economies in absolutely different, sometimes surprising, forms. Each week the Energy Information Administration measures the change in oil reserves held by American companies. The level of inventories influences the petroleum products prices, which have an impact on inflation.
Applications in trading
All in all, Crude Oil Inventories index works according to the general economic laws. Increased demand pushes the prices of the underlying asset up. Traders that deal with oil and oil-related assets can find it useful to follow this metric.
