Oil Price - April 12
Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 2:00 pm
OilPrice.com daily report Friday, April 12, 2019
Despite losses on Thursday, oil is set to close out a sixth consecutive week of price gains. The market has been steadily tightening for quite some time, but the instability in Libya this week was the main contributor. “Demand is mixed” but “the tightness of the market is going to win out,” Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at consultants Energy Aspects Ltd., said in a Bloomberg television interview.
OPEC production falls 534,000 bpd. OPEC production in March fell by 534,000 bpd, led by a massive 324,000-bpd reduction from Saudi Arabia, putting overall output at just below 9.8 million barrels per day (mb/d), well below its 10-mb/d ceiling as part of the OPEC+ deal. Meanwhile, Iraq lowered output by 126,000 bpd, and Venezuela saw a sharp 289,000-bpd decline in output, due in large part to power outages. On the other hand, Libya saw 196,000 bpd come back online, owing to the ramp up of the Sharara oil field. However, fighting in Libya now puts those gains at risk.
IEA: Oil supply and demand fundamentals relatively bullish. The IEA said that supply declines and steady demand have helped tighten up the oil market. However, the agency noted that there are some concerns about demand, and even as the agency maintained its 1.4-mb/d demand growth estimate, it conceded that there are downside risks to that forecast.
Despite losses on Thursday, oil is set to close out a sixth consecutive week of price gains. The market has been steadily tightening for quite some time, but the instability in Libya this week was the main contributor. “Demand is mixed” but “the tightness of the market is going to win out,” Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at consultants Energy Aspects Ltd., said in a Bloomberg television interview.
OPEC production falls 534,000 bpd. OPEC production in March fell by 534,000 bpd, led by a massive 324,000-bpd reduction from Saudi Arabia, putting overall output at just below 9.8 million barrels per day (mb/d), well below its 10-mb/d ceiling as part of the OPEC+ deal. Meanwhile, Iraq lowered output by 126,000 bpd, and Venezuela saw a sharp 289,000-bpd decline in output, due in large part to power outages. On the other hand, Libya saw 196,000 bpd come back online, owing to the ramp up of the Sharara oil field. However, fighting in Libya now puts those gains at risk.
IEA: Oil supply and demand fundamentals relatively bullish. The IEA said that supply declines and steady demand have helped tighten up the oil market. However, the agency noted that there are some concerns about demand, and even as the agency maintained its 1.4-mb/d demand growth estimate, it conceded that there are downside risks to that forecast.