The US government's Weekly Petroleum Status Report won't be released as planned this week because of system issues stemming from a power problem, which is the most closely watched oil data in the world.
The Energy Information Administration has delayed the publication of its Weekly Natural Gas Inventory report this week because of a technical issue that caused an unspecified hardware failure. Chris Higginbotham said that we aren't going to release any more data this week. He said that the agency had a significant delay in 2013 due to a government shutdown.
The U.S. is one of the few major oil-producing and oil-consuming nations that publish weekly, detailed data on the health of the nation's petroleum supply and demand. The report provides key insights into the oil market, which has seen prices rise more than 40% this year, forcing governments to wrestle with surging inflation. The data is used to move oil prices when it is released.
Oil traders and market observers watch for the publication of the EIA's weekly publication every week, routinely on a Wednesday. The report covers everything from crude oil and gasoline to natural gas liquids. The release was pushed to Thursday because of the Juneteenth federal holiday observed on Monday.
The report's delay is leaving a hole for a market hungry for insight. It is a big thing for me. It greenlights or blacklists things when inflation is all the rage. Bob Yawger, who is the director of the futures division at Mizuho Securities USA, said it changed your view on the market.
The weekly report of the EIA is often used to verify similar data issued by the American Petroleum Institute, which is funded by industry. The group usually publishes its findings the day before the US government.
The agency said staff were replacing damaged equipment, such as servers, and would need to reload data and perform quality checks before the reports can be published. An update is expected to be made on Monday.
There is no age of credibility for central banks that is over.