Optimal Seasonal Distillate Inventory

Abstract

This paper summarizes an investigation of the seasonal inventory of distillate (heating) oil. My object was to determine the extra amount of distillate stock (usually called seasonal stock) to be held at the primary echelon at the beginning of the heating season (about October 31). It began with the usual belief that some traditional amount of heating oil stock be available at the beginning of the heating season. This traditional amount had been based on trends of seasonal stocks adjusted for weather and other demand changes and overlooked such things as optima price theory. Even so, this approach was flawed because seasonal patterns had become so much less severe that conventional, even careful extrapolation produced misleading and inconsistent results.