Product supplied, demand, consumption… EIA

I learned this from Andy Lebow back in 1988/89 but the EIA thinks it is worth mentioning in This Week In Petroleum:

“Many analysts use the motor gasoline product supplied data in the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Weekly Petroleum Status Report (WPSR) to discern trends in U.S. gasoline consumption. To interpret the data effectively, it is important to understand what product supplied is and what it is not. The large scale and timing of each of the components of product supplied can sometimes lead to week-to-week changes in product supplied volumes that are not indicative of actual consumption patterns. Because of these dynamics, finished motor gasoline product supplied measured using a four-week rolling average is a more robust method of discerning trends.”