The Magical Mystery Barrels

[JFN1]

I thought I was having deja vu when I saw this story tonight:

Energy futures rose sharply Wednesday after the government reported unexpected declines in supplies of crude and heating oil last week and the Federal Reserve announced a plan to help banks weather the credit crisis.

Crude supplies fell 700,000 barrels during the week ended Dec. 7, according to a weekly inventory report from the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration. Analysts had expected a 100,000 barrel increase.

And supplies of distillates, which include heating oil and diesel fuel, fell 800,000 barrels; analysts had expected inventories to rise by 300,000 barrels.

It reminded me a lot of this story, only in reverse:

...it also said crude inventories rose 700,000 barrels during the week ended Nov. 30, the third week in a row supplies have grown...

Funny, how one week we can have 700,000 barrels extra of oil, while in the very next week, supplies mysteriously drop 700,000 barrels...you know, according to the government...George Bush's government, that is...

[Kadie]

1. Sounds like they are using Diebold to keep track of the inventory. n/t

[alfredo]

2. You've entered the twilight zone. It's nice, they have cookies.

[cloudbase]

3. 700,000 barrels is nothing.

I just retired from a career at sea, the last five years spent running crude from Alaska to the U.S. West Coast. Fully loaded, we'd carry 1.3 million barrels, so 700k could be a ship that is a day late or down for some unexpected repairs.

[lonestarnot]

4. Brrrrrrrr. I bet that was a cold job!

[cloudbase]

5. You got that right!

Nothing like a winter storm in the Gulf of Alaska.

[lonestarnot]

6. My brother did the Alaska deal, I forget what doing now, fishing?

Beats me. But while he was up on something (beats me again think it had something to do with a type of crane) an eagle tried to land on his slippery jacket. Thank gawd it was slippery. The talons didn't stick and it took off. My brother loves eagles, but he was freaked out about the incident.

[JFN1]

7. I hear you

Your information just adds to the mystery of why such a small amount of oil would have such a huge effect on prices. It sounds like manipulation to me, especially given your experience...