They met; they cut; and the market paid no attention. OPEC day turned out to be an underwhelming affair if the price action is anything to go by. Indeed, the two leading crude markers ended the session little changed. This is in spite of the fact that the OPEC+ producer alliance is bracing for deeper supply [...]
The noises coming out of Washington have been very confusing lately. A bigger than normal dose of uncertainty surrounds the trade policy of the US administration. It all started last Friday when President Trump demonstrated its support for the Hong Kong protesters. This week he raised the possibility of not striking any deal with China until [...]
Like the Grinch, the season of goodwill seems lost on the US President. We are barely halfway through the week and the self-declared “Tariff Man” has already made a series of protectionist moves. On Monday, he made the surprise announcement that tariffs on steel imports from Brazil and Argentina would be restored. As if for [...]
From a bull’s perspective yesterday’s gains in the oil market actually feel like losses. Friday’s massive expiry related price falls was meant to be a one-off and the market was expected to recover yesterday. It duly did so in the early part of the trading session. The strength that took Brent $1.60/bbl above Friday’s settlement [...]
US traders had clearly thought long and hard about the oil market on Thanksgiving and concluded that prices are unjustifiably high, maybe due to the rising tension between the US and China because of the Hong Kong protests. Or they might have been disappointed with the lack of real upside progress on Thursday and Friday [...]
Trading ranges were narrow, volatility suffered, and liquidity dried up – all the hallmarks of a semi-functional market. There were 541 million bbls of Brent futures that changed hands yesterday. This compares with 784 million bbls on Wednesday or 911 million bbls on Tuesday. Whilst the US was busy giving thanks at home and its [...]
US traders had clearly thought long and hard about the oil market on Thanksgiving and concluded that prices are unjustifiably high, maybe due to the rising tension between the US and China because of the Hong Kong protests. Or they might have been disappointed with the lack of real upside progress on Thursday and Friday [...]
The last 30 minutes of trading breathed some life into an otherwise uneventful trading session yesterday. The belief in a positive trade deal continues unabated and all that was needed for a good 60 cents/bbl rally towards the close was some warm words from the US President. Donald Trump said that the US was in [...]
The current consensus is that the OPEC+ supply agreement will be rolled over for at least three months at the group’s next meeting with special emphasis on stricter compliance. It would help a great deal to balance global oil inventories next year. This prevents oil prices from falling. There is still a great amount of [...]
There were two significant developments last week that shaped oil prices. The first one is that the picture has started to emerge as what to expect when oil ministers from OPEC and the ten non-OPEC countries meet next week in Vienna to discuss the way forward. The second one is the “ccc” (complex, complicated and [...]
