Quarterly Oil Market Update: All eyes on OPEC and the US
Oil Market ReportCurrently, Brent oil is trading at around $55 per barrel, with little deviation from this level in the last two months. This stability in prices is mainly due to coordinated action by OPEC and some non-OPEC members, with January crude oil production data showing OPECs oil output was down, month-on-month, by 900 thousand barrels per day. Despite the relatively stable start to the year, oil price volatility is likely to re-emerge during 2017 as global oil markets face up to a rising risk of OPEC noncompliance to production cuts, upward revisions in US oil production, and policy initiatives from the new US administration.
Quarterly Oil Market Update: (Volatility Returns to Oil Markets)
Oil Market ReportOil prices rose 10 percent quarter-on-quarter in Q1 2017, but volatility levels were up too, especially towards the end of the quarter. Although both OPEC and non-OPEC cuts are contributing to a reduction in global oil balances, global commercial oil inventories nevertheless remain high. Demand is expected to pick up in H2 2017.
