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Comfort zone for OPEC+ in 2024 as fundamentals gradually improve in its favor

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Back to its sideways trade range and inching almost unnoticeable higher as the year progresses. Brent crude is up 0.2% this morning to USD 82.7/b along with copper (+0.3%) and Shanghai equities (+1.0%). Brent crude saw some bearish action at the end of last week but it recovered a good portion of that ydy (+1.1%) and then a little more again this morning. With this it has mostly returned back to its sideways trading pattern.

Bjarne Schieldrop, Chief analyst commodities at SEB
Bjarne Schieldrop, Chief analyst commodities, SEB

Brent crude averaged USD 79.1/b in January. So far in February it has averaged USD 81.5/b and at the moment it trades at USD 82.7/b. Typical market comments these days are along the theme ”looking for direction” or ”waiting for new signals on supply or demand”. But other comments are more attuned to a view that the direction is indeed sideways this year. Argus last week describe the outlook for the supply/demand balance for 2024 as ”almost perfectly aligned” and Goldman adds to this view in a note yesterday with ”oil set to extend its tight trading range”.

Cease-fire in Gaza on Monday 4 March may create a buying opportunity. News this morning is Biden expressing hopes that a cease-fire in Gaza may start as soon as Monday next week. In our view there is basically zero risk premium in the current oil price due to Middle East tensions. So if the oil price sells off on firm news of a cease-fire, then it is probably a good buying opportunity in our view.

We maintain our strong view of an average Brent crude oil price of USD 85/b in 2024. Total US crude and product stocks including SPR has gone flat sideways since the end of 2022, all through 2023 and has continued to do so in 2023. US oil inventories are below where they were one year ago both when SPR is included and excluded. This is a reflection of a global oil market in balance though OPEC+ has indeed been the balancing agent.

For the year to come, total US hydrocarbon liquids production is forecast by the US EIA to go flat sideways until October this year and in Q4-24 US production is forecast to be only 0.1 m b/d above Q4-23. So no damaging super-growth from the US to kill the oil party this year. In its last monthly report the US EIA actually reduced its forecast for US production by 100 k b/d to 22.3 m b/d (all liquids included). Russia’s energy minister, Nikolay Shulginov, stated in Tass news agency recently that he expects Russian oil production to decline to 530 mn ton in 2024 from 523 mn ton in 2023. That’s a decline of 1.3% YoY and would equate to a decline of 120-130 k b/d decline YoY. So neither of these oil producing giants are set to unsettle the global oil market this year with too much supply.

Demand growth looks set to be a normal 1.3 m b/d in 2024. The most bearish on oil demand growth is probably the IEA which predicts demand to grow on by 1.2 m b/d YoY in 2024. The US EIA expects demand to grow by 1.4 m b/d. But if we look closer at the numbers from the IEA it expects demand to rise by 1.6 m b/d YoY from Q4-23 to Q4-24. Together with muted supply from both the US and Russia this year this all sums up to a gradually rising need for oil from OPEC through 2024. This made us write the headline ”Better and better every day” in a crude oil comment in late January. Demand for oil from OPEC doesn’t look stellar. But it looks set to be better and better through the year and that is most definitely a great comfort zone for OPEC+.

Sideways, yes, but normal trade range around the mean is still usually +/- USD 20/b. Amid all the current calmness, let us still not forget that Brent crude usually trades in a range through the year of +/- USD 20/b around the mean as there are always some surprises along the way. We don’t think that the situation in the Middle East will spiral out of control into an all-out regional war involving Iran and resulting in large losses of oil supply to the market. And we don’t think there are much risk premium in current oil prices related to this either. But at times in 2024 it may look like it might happen. And that’s probably when you would see the high price point of the year. Maybe as high as USD 105/b. On the bearish we do not think that we’ll have a major economic slowdown or a recession in 2024. But at times in 2024 it may look like we are about to tip into a major slowdown and that would probably be when you’d see the low price point of the year. Maybe as low as USD 65/b.

Total US crude and product stocks incl. SPR has gone sideways since end of 2022, all through 2023 and so far in 2024. Currently it is only 13 m b above the low-point in late 2022!

Total US crude and product stocks incl. SPR
Source: SEB graph, Blbrg data

Commercial US crude and product stocks are below normal and below last year.

Commercial US crude and product stocks are below normal and below last year.
Source: SEB graph and calculations, Blbrg data

US Commercial oil inventories vs. the 2015-19 average. Still struggling with a significant deficit of middle distillates.

US Commercial oil inventories vs. the 2015-19 average.
Source: SEB graph and calculations, Blbrg and EIA data

US refinery utilization at very low level vs. normal. Extensive maintenance this spring is expected. Result will be low production of oil products, falling inventories of oil products, higher refining margins but also rising crude stocks.

US refinery utilization at very low level vs. normal.
Source: SEB graph and calculations, Blbrg data

US EIA forecast for total US liquids production. To go sideways in 2024 to Oct-2024.

US EIA forecast for total US liquids production
Source: SEB graph and calculations, US EIA data STEO

Strong growth in US supply in 2022 and 2023. But 2024 is only set to grow 0.5 m b/d YoY on average. The growth in 2024 is in part a result of production in 2023 starting low and ending high. But from Jan to Oct 2024 US production will go sideways and only rise by 0.1 m b/d YoY from Q4-23 to Q4-24.

YoY change in total US hydrocarbon liquids production
Source: SEB calculations and graph, US EIA data STEO

Global floating crude stocks at 66 m b and not too far above the more normal 50 m b level.

Global floating crude stocks
Source: SEB graph, Blbrg data

IEA Feb-2024 OMR: Call-on-OPEC is rising gradually through 2024. Better and better for OPEC every quarter to Q3-24

Source: SEB graph, IEA data

Analys

Breaking some eggs in US shale

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Lower as OPEC+ keeps fast-tracking redeployment of previous cuts. Brent closed down 1.3% yesterday to USD 68.76/b on the back of the news over the weekend that OPEC+ (V8) lifted its quota by 547 kb/d for September. Intraday it traded to a low of USD 68.0/b but then pushed higher as Trump threatened to slap sanctions on India if it continues to buy loads of Russian oil.  An effort by Donald Trump to force Putin to a truce in Ukraine. This morning it is trading down 0.6% at USD 68.3/b which is just USD 1.3/b below its July average.

Bjarne Schieldrop, Chief analyst commodities, SEB
Bjarne Schieldrop, Chief analyst commodities, SEB

Only US shale can hand back the market share which OPEC+ is after. The overall picture in the oil market today and the coming 18 months is that OPEC+ is in the process of taking back market share which it lost over the past years in exchange for higher prices. There is only one source of oil supply which has sufficient reactivity and that is US shale. Average liquids production in the US is set to average 23.1 mb/d in 2025 which is up a whooping 3.4 mb/d since 2021 while it is only up 280 kb/d versus 2024.

Taking back market share is usually a messy business involving a deep trough in prices and significant economic pain for the involved parties. The original plan of OPEC+ (V8) was to tip-toe the 2.2 mb/d cuts gradually back into the market over the course to December 2026. Hoping that robust demand growth and slower non-OPEC+ supply growth would make room for the re-deployment without pushing oil prices down too much.

From tip-toing to fast-tracking. Though still not full aggression. US trade war, weaker global growth outlook and Trump insisting on a lower oil price, and persistent robust non-OPEC+ supply growth changed their minds. Now it is much more fast-track with the re-deployment of the 2.2 mb/d done already by September this year. Though with some adjustments. Lifting quotas is not immediately the same as lifting production as Russia and Iraq first have to pay down their production debt. The OPEC+ organization is also holding the door open for production cuts if need be. And the group is not blasting the market with oil. So far it has all been very orderly with limited impact on prices. Despite the fast-tracking.

The overall process is nonetheless still to take back market share. And that won’t be without pain. The good news for OPEC+ is of course that US shale now is cooling down when WTI is south of USD 65/b rather than heating up when WTI is north of USD 45/b as was the case before.

OPEC+ will have to break some eggs in the US shale oil patches to take back lost market share. The process is already in play. Global oil inventories have been building and they will build more and the oil price will be pushed lower.

A Brent average of USD 60/b in 2026 implies a low of the year of USD 45-47.5/b. Assume that an average Brent crude oil price of USD 60/b and an average WTI price of USD 57.5/b in 2026 is sufficient to drive US oil rig count down by another 100 rigs and US crude production down by 1.5 mb/d from Dec-25 to Dec-26. A Brent crude average of USD 60/b sounds like a nice price. Do remember though that over the course of a year Brent crude fluctuates +/- USD 10-15/b around the average. So if USD 60/b is the average price, then the low of the year is in the mid to the high USD 40ies/b.

US shale oil producers are likely bracing themselves for what’s in store. US shale oil producers are aware of what is in store. They can see that inventories are rising and they have been cutting rigs and drilling activity since mid-April. But significantly more is needed over the coming 18 months or so. The faster they cut the better off they will be. Cutting 5 drilling rigs per week to the end of the year, an additional total of 100 rigs, will likely drive US crude oil production down by 1.5 mb/d from Dec-25 to Dec-26 and come a long way of handing back the market share OPEC+ is after.

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Analys

More from OPEC+ means US shale has to gradually back off further

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The OPEC+ subgroup V8 this weekend decided to fully unwind their voluntary cut of 2.2 mb/d. The September quota hike was set at 547 kb/d thereby unwinding the full 2.2 mb/d. This still leaves another layer of voluntary cuts of 1.6 mb/d which is likely to be unwind at some point.

Bjarne Schieldrop, Chief analyst commodities, SEB
Bjarne Schieldrop, Chief analyst commodities, SEB

Higher quotas however do not immediately translate to equally higher production. This because Russia and Iraq have ”production debts” of cumulative over-production which they need to pay back by holding production below the agreed quotas. I.e. they cannot (should not) lift production before Jan (Russia) and March (Iraq) next year.

Argus estimates that global oil stocks have increased by 180 mb so far this year but with large skews. Strong build in Asia while Europe and the US still have low inventories. US Gulf stocks are at the lowest level in 35 years. This strong skew is likely due to political sanctions towards Russian and Iranian oil exports and the shadow fleet used to export their oil. These sanctions naturally drive their oil exports to Asia and non-OECD countries. That is where the surplus over the past half year has been going and where inventories have been building. An area which has a much more opaque oil market. Relatively low visibility with respect to oil inventories and thus weaker price signals from inventory dynamics there.

This has helped shield Brent and WTI crude oil price benchmarks to some degree from the running, global surplus over the past half year. Brent crude averaged USD 73/b in December 2024 and at current USD 69.7/b it is not all that much lower today despite an estimated global stock build of 180 mb since the end of last year and a highly anticipated equally large stock build for the rest of the year.

What helps to blur the message from OPEC+ in its current process of unwinding cuts and taking back market share, is that, while lifting quotas, it is at the same time also quite explicit that this is not a one way street. That it may turn around make new cuts if need be.

This is very different from its previous efforts to take back market share from US shale oil producers. In its previous efforts it typically tried to shock US shale oil producers out of the market. But they came back very, very quickly. 

When OPEC+ now is taking back market share from US shale oil it is more like it is exerting a continuous, gradually increasing pressure towards US shale oil rather than trying to shock it out of the market which it tried before. OPEC+ is now forcing US shale oil producers to gradually back off. US oil drilling rig count is down from 480 in Q1-25 to now 410 last week and it is typically falling by some 4-5 rigs per week currently. This has happened at an average WTI price of about USD 65/b. This is very different from earlier when US shale oil activity exploded when WTI went north of USD 45/b. This helps to give OPEC+ a lot of confidence.

Global oil inventories are set to rise further in H2-25 and crude oil prices will likely be forced lower though the global skew in terms of where inventories are building is muddying the picture. US shale oil activity will likely decline further in H2-25 as well with rig count down maybe another 100 rigs. Thus making room for more oil from OPEC+.

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Analys

Tightening fundamentals – bullish inventories from DOE

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The latest weekly report from the US DOE showed a substantial drawdown across key petroleum categories, adding more upside potential to the fundamental picture.

Ole R. Hvalbye, Analyst Commodities, SEB
Ole R. Hvalbye, Analyst Commodities, SEB

Commercial crude inventories (excl. SPR) fell by 5.8 million barrels, bringing total inventories down to 415.1 million barrels. Now sitting 11% below the five-year seasonal norm and placed in the lowest 2015-2022 range (see picture below).

Product inventories also tightened further last week. Gasoline inventories declined by 2.1 million barrels, with reductions seen in both finished gasoline and blending components. Current gasoline levels are about 3% below the five-year average for this time of year.

Among products, the most notable move came in diesel, where inventories dropped by almost 4.1 million barrels, deepening the deficit to around 20% below seasonal norms – continuing to underscore the persistent supply tightness in diesel markets.

The only area of inventory growth was in propane/propylene, which posted a significant 5.1-million-barrel build and now stands 9% above the five-year average.

Total commercial petroleum inventories (crude plus refined products) declined by 4.2 million barrels on the week, reinforcing the overall tightening of US crude and products.

US DOE, inventories, change in million barrels per week
US crude inventories excl. SPR in million barrels
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