Analys

Crude oil comment: Fundamentals are key – more volatility ahead

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6 juni, 2024

This week, Brent Crude prices have declined by USD 2.5 per barrel (3%) since the market opened on Monday. The key driver behind this movement was the OPEC+ meeting last Sunday. Initially, prices fell sharply, with Brent touching USD 76.76 per barrel on Tuesday (June 4th); however, there has been a slight recovery since, with current trading around USD 78.5/bl.

Ole R. Hvalbye, Analyst Commodities, SEB

Despite ongoing macroeconomic concerns, price movements have been relatively subdued in the first half of 2024, largely driven by fundamental factors—specifically, concerns around supply and demand, where US DOE data and OPEC+ strategy, remain central to price dynamics.

The US inventory report on Wednesday contributed to bearish market sentiment due to an overall increase in commercial inventories. Following the report, prices dipped approximately USD 1/bl before returning to earlier levels in the week.

According to the US DOE, there was a build in US crude inventories of 1.2 million barrels last week, totaling 455.9 million barrels—around 4% below the five-year average for this period, yet significantly less than the 4.1 million barrels anticipated by the API on Tuesday (see page 11 attached). Gasoline inventories also rose by 2.1 million barrels, slightly less than API’s 4 million barrel expectation, and remain about 1% below the five-year average. Meanwhile, distillate (diesel) inventories saw a substantial increase of 3.2 million barrels, maintaining a position 7% under the five-year average but exceeding the expected 2 million barrels projected by API.

Globally, bearish to sideways price movements during May can be attributed to a healthy build in global crude inventories coupled with stagnant demand. US DOE data exemplifies this with both an increase in commercial crude inventories and rising crude oil imports, which averaged 7.1 million barrels per day last week—a 300k barrel increase from the previous week. Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged 6.8 million barrels per day, reflecting a 3.5% increase compared to the same period last year.

Product demand shows signs of weakening. Gasoline products supplied to the US market averaged 9.1 million barrels a day, a 1% decrease from the previous year, while distillate supplied averaged 3.7 million barrels a day, down a significant 3.4% from last year. In contrast, jet fuel supply has increased by 13% compared to the same four-week period last year.

OPEC+ Strategic Shifts

OPEC+ has markedly shifted its strategy from focusing solely on price stability to a dual emphasis on price and volume (more in yesterday’s crude oil c omment). Since the COVID-19-induced demand collapse in May 2020, OPEC+ has adeptly managed supply levels to stabilize the market. This dynamic is evolving; OPEC+ no longer adjusts supplies solely based on global demand shifts or non-OPEC+ production changes.

Echoing a strategic move similar to Saudi Arabia’s in 2014, OPEC+ has signaled a nuanced approach. The alliance has planned no production changes for Q3-24 to align supply with expected seasonal demand increases, aiming to maintain market balance. Beyond that, there’s a plan to gradually reintroduce 2 million barrels per day from Q4-24 to Q3-25, with an initial increase of 750,000 barrels per day by January 2025. However, this plan is flexible and subject to adjustment depending on market conditions.

The IEA’s May report forecasts a decrease in OPEC’s call by 0.5 million barrels per day by 2025—a potential loss in market share, which OPEC+ finds unacceptable. The group has openly rejected further cuts, signaling an end to its willingness to lose market share to maintain price stability.

This stance serves as a clear warning to non-OPEC+ producers, particularly US shale operators, that the market shares gained since 2020 are not theirs to keep indefinitely. OPEC+ is determined to reclaim its volumes, potentially influencing future production decisions across the global oil industry. Producers now face the strategic decision to potentially scale back on production increases for 2025.

The confluence of a continuing build in US inventories and OPEC+’s strategic shifts has led to market reactions. In the wake of OPEC+ rhetoric, evaluating the fundamentals is now more important than ever, and increased volatility is expected.

Even though OPEC+ has signaled its intention to reclaim market share, it plans to maintain current production levels for the next three months while continuously evaluating the situation. Today, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the Saudi Energy Minister, spoke at the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg. He highlighted that Sunday’s agreement, like many before it, retains the option to ’pause or reverse’ production changes if deemed necessary. This statement subtly emphasizes that maintaining oil price stability and market balance remains a primary focus for OPEC+. Such rhetoric introduces a new dimension of uncertainty that market participants will need to consider going forward.

If the price continues to fall, OPEC+ remains intent on reclaiming ’their volumes,’ betting on a decrease in non-OPEC supply later this year and into 2025. A potentially weaker oil price, within the USD 70-80/bl range for the remainder of 2024, could help alleviate current inflationary pressures. This in turn may lead to earlier central bank rate cuts and a quicker economic recovery in 2025, thereby reviving global oil demand to the benefit of OPEC+.

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Analys

Unusual strong bearish market conviction but OPEC+ market strategy is always a wildcard

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30 april, 2025

Redaktionen

Brent crude falls with strong conviction that trade war will hurt demand for oil. Brent crude sold off 2.4% yesterday to USD 64.25/b along with rising concerns that the US trade war with China will soon start to visibly hurt oil demand or that it has already started to happen. Tariffs between the two are currently at 145% and 125% in the US and China respectively which implies a sharp decline in trade between the two if at all. This morning Brent crude (June contract) is trading down another 1.2% to USD 63.3/b. The June contract is rolling off today and a big question is how that will leave the shape of the Brent crude forward curve. Will the front-end backwardation in the curve evaporate further or will the July contract, now at USD 62.35/b, move up to where the June contract is today?

Bjarne Schieldrop, Chief analyst commodities, SEB

The unusual ”weird smile” of Brent forward curve implies unusual strong bearish conviction amid current prompt tightness. the The Brent crude oil forward curve has displayed a very unusual shape lately with front-end backwardation combined with deferred contango. Market pricing tightness today but weakness tomorrow. We have commented on this several times lately and Morgan Stanly highlighted how unusual historically this shape is. The reason why it is unusual is probably because markets in general have a hard time pricing a future which is very different from the present. Bearishness in the oil market when it is shifting from tight to soft balance usually comes creeping in at the front-end of the curve. A slight contango at the front-end in combination with an overall backwardated curve. Then this slight contango widens and in the end the whole curve flips to full contango. The current shape of the forward curve implies a very, very strong conviction by the market that softness and surplus is coming. A conviction so strong that it overrules the present tightness. This conviction flows from the fundamental understanding that ongoing trade war is bad for the global economy, for oil demand and for the oil price.

Will OPEC+ switch to cuts or will it leave balancing to a lower price driving US production lower? Add of course also in that OPEC+ has signaled that it will lift production more rapidly and is currently no longer in the mode of holding back to keep Brent at USD 75/b due to an internal quarrel over quotas. That stand can of course change from one day to the next. That is a very clear risk to the upside and oil consumers around should keep that in the back of their minds that this could happen. Though we are not utterly convinced of the imminent risk of this. Before such a pivot happens, Iraq and Kazakhstan probably have to prove that they can live up to their promised cuts. And that will take a few months. Also, OPEC+ might also like to see where the pain-point for US shale oil producers’ price-vise really is today. So far, we have seen no decline in the number of US oil drilling rigs in operation which have steadily been running at around 480 rigs.

With a surplus oil market on the horizon, OPEC+ will have to make a choice. How shale this coming surplus be resolved? Shall OPEC+ cut in order to balance the market or shall lower oil prices drive pain and lower production in the US which then will result in a balanced market? Maybe it is the first or maybe the latter. The group currently has a bloated surplus balance which it needs to slim down at some point. And maybe now is the time. Allowing the oil price to slide. Economic pain for US shale oil producers to rise and US oil production to fall in order to balance the market and make room OPEC+ to redeploy its previous cuts back into the market.

Surplus is not yet here. US oil inventories likely fell close to 2 mb last week. US API yesterday released indications that US crude and product inventories fell 1.8 mb last week with crude up 3.8 mb, gasoline down 3.1 mb and distillates down 2.5 mb. So, in terms of a crude oil contango market (= surplus and rising inventories) we have not yet moved to the point where US inventories are showing that the global oil market now indeed is in surplus. Though Chinese purchases to build stocks may have helped to keep the market tight. Indications that Saudi Arabia may lift June Official Selling Prices is a signal that the oil market may not be all that close to unraveling in surplus.

The low point of the Brent crude oil curve is shifting closer to present. A sign that the current front-end backwardation of the Brent crude oil curve is about to evaporate.

Brent crude versus US Russel 2000 equity index. Is the equity market too optimistic or the oil market too bearish?

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Analys

Oil demand at risk as US consumers soon will face hard tariff-realities

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28 april, 2025

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Muted sideways trading. Brent crude traded mostly sideways last week, but due to a relatively strong close on the Friday before, it ended the week down 1.6% at USD 66.87/b with a high-low range of USD 65.29 – 68.65/b. So muted price range action. Brent crude is trading marginally higher, up 0.3%, this morning amid mixed equity and commodity markets.

Strong Chinese buying in April as oil prices dipped. Chinese imports of crude continued to accelerate in April following a surge in March with data from Kepler indicating that Chinese imports averaged near 11 mb/d in April. That is an 18mth high and strongly up versus only 8.9 mb/d in January (FT.com today). That has most certainly helped to stem the rot in the oil price which bottomed at an intraday low of USD 58.4/b on 9 April. It has probably also helped to keep the front-end of the Brent crude oil forward curve in consistent backwardation. The strong buying from China is both opportunistic stockpiling due to the price slump but also rebuilding of oil inventories in general.

Oil speculators are cautious with oil demand at risk as US consumers soon will face hard tariff-realities. But oil market speculators are far from bullish. While net long speculative positions are up 52.2 mb over the week to last Tuesday, it is still only the 15th lowest speculative positioning over the past 52 weeks. The underlying concern is of course the US tariffs which is crippling exports of goods from China to the US with bookings of container freight down by 30% according to Hapag-Lloyd. Bloomberg’s Chief US economist, Anna Wong, is saying that empty shelves in US shops will soon be the reality. Thus US-China trade relations need to be fixed quickly to avoid hard realities for US consumers. The lead-times are long and the current tariffs and uncertainty around these is now risking availability for US consumer goods for the holiday seasons in H2-25. Tariff realities for US consumers are increasingly just around the corner. ”Rubber will hit the road” very soon and that is when we might see weaker oil demand as well.

Brent crude traded mostly sideways last week though ended down 1.6% in the end.

Net long speculative positions in Brent and WTI up 52.2 mb over week to last Tuesday but still at 15-week low over past 52 weeks.

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Brent crude is now trading below its nominal 2018-19 average in EUR/barrel terms

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25 april, 2025

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Brent crude gained a meager 0.65% yesterday with a close of USD 66.55/b. That was not much given that US equity markets rallied 2% yesterday with Nasdaq now is almost back to its pre ”Liberation Day” level. Brent crude is trading unchanged this morning with little impulse to do anything it seems.

Equity markets have gotten a boost along with easing US tariff rhetoric. The Brent crude oil price has however not gotten the same rebound and is today still trading USD 8.5/b lower than its USD 75/b level from 2 April.

Two factors at hand here: Expectations of softer growth and more oil from OPEC+. One is that global growth in 2025 will still take a hit with softer growth and thus softer oil demand growth due to the US tariff-turmoil. Even if rhetoric has eased. The second is that OPEC+ has upped its production plans with a softer market as a result going forward. The latter message to the market happened almost at the same time as the ”Liberation Day” on 2 April.

Spot market still as tight as it was on 2 April. Still, the front-end market is more or less equally tight today as it was on 2 April. The average Brent, WTI and Dubai 1-3mth time-spread is USD 1.4/b today versus USD 1.5/b on 2. April.

The market setup/pricing is thus that the market is still tight, but that surplus will come. Either because global growth will slow due to US Tariff-turmoil or because OPEC+ will add more barrels.

Will OPEC+ resolve its internal quarrels? Worth remembering on the latter is that the latest more aggressive OPEC+ production growth plan is due to internal quarrels over quota breaches by Iraq and Kazakhstan. OPEC+ could potentially ease those growth plans just as quickly if the internal quarrel is resolved.

Brent crude in EUR/barrel is now trading at the nominal level from 2018-2019. That is nominal! Not taking account of any kind of inflation which cumulatively is up 20-30% since primo 2018. The average, nominal Brent crude oil price in 2018-2019 was EUR 59.1/b. The front-month Brent crude oil price is now EUR 58.4/b. And Brent forward 36mth is only EUR 55.5/b and in real terms one could subtract some 5-10% for the next three years from that nominal forward price. Quite sweet for consumers!

Brent has rebounded along with equities (here US Russel 2000 index in orange), but the rebound in oil has become more hesitant the latest days. Brent still trading USD 8.5/b below its pre ”Liberation Day” of USD 75/b

Brent crude forward curves. Today versus 2 April (’Liberation Day’). Still a tight current market but now with expectation that surplus is coming.

The Brent crude oil price versus the average Brent, WTI and Dubai 1-3mth time-spread. The latter is today on par with where it was on 2 April while the Brent 1mth price is down USD 8.5/b.

Brent crude in EUR/b is down to its 2018-2019 nominal price level. Not bad for euro-based oil consumers!!

Yearly averages for Brent crude in EUR/barrel. The Brent 1mth in EUR/barrel is today trading below its nominal average from 2018-2019 of EUR 59.1/b. And 36mth forward Brent is trading at only EUR 55.5/b. And that is nominally both ways. Add in some 20-30% inflation since primo 2018 and 5-10% additional inflation next three years. Think real terms!