Oil Bulls Fret Weekly Inventory Data

The U.S. Energy Information Administration is set to release its weekly report on domestic crude oil inventories at 10:35 a.m. Wednesday. While the weekly EIA report focuses on oil inventory numbers, they also include other data on oil supply and demand.

Oil markets have been taking huge hits from a growing stream of new data pointing to falling oil consumption levels in the U.S and Europe. The chances of a tumble due to any bullish crude oil news from the upcoming EIA analysis are slim.

On Tuesday the Nymex crude pit took a severe beating because of bearish oil data in another EIA publication, and crude oil doesn't have much to look forward to with the quick release of more oil supply and demand data from the energy watchdog. Net-long oil traders had come to relish the EIA's active publishing schedule when crude prices were soaring to record highs every other week. Now, bullish oil traders are likely to look forward to the weekly inventory reports the same way they anticipate trips to their dentist.

Last week's inventory report, released Wednesday, Aug. 6, estimated that oil consumption during the four-week period ending Aug. 1 fell 20.1 million barrels, or 2.6%, relative to the same period in 2007. Consumption for the week ending Aug. 1 was said to have dropped 4.1% year-on-year.

Tuesday's EIA publication actually took a stab at guessing what Wednesday's results will look like. The Short-Term Outlook predicts that daily petroleum consumption for last July was 20.32 million barrels a day, sliding to 20.32 million barrels per day in August. If its predictions for last July and August prove correct, June consumption will have fallen 430,000 barrels year-over-year, and August levels will fall again by another 300,000 barrels per day.

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