(The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the attributed sources and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rigzone or the author)
A regular Rigzone market watcher takes a look at the effect of US crude and fuels on oil prices, Saudi Arabia’s million-barrel-per-day fresh oil production cut, what it takes look at the oil market this week and more. Read on for more details.
Rig zone: What were some market expectations that actually played out over the past week, and which expectations didn’t?
Barani Krishnan, Senior Commodity Analyst at uk.Investing.com: U.S. crude oil, gasoline and distillate inventories continued to experience declines as summer travel demand picked up.
Rig zone: What were some market surprises?
Krishnan: Another week of U.S. crude and fuel draws and instead we have nasty oil prices, with the market set by concerns about rising rates rather than the health of demand for summer energy
Crude oil inventories fell for a third week in a row in the United States, while gasoline and distillate stocks also fell, the Energy Information Administration, or EIA, said in its State of the Oil report of the week of June 30.
But US crude was barely above $70 a barrel in the report. Brent stayed firmly away from the Saudi $80 target.
That’s after the kingdom said it would extend its cut of a million barrels a day from July to August, confirming what the market already knew: The Saudis would rather lose market share than their pride in admitting that changing that market will take plus just production cuts (think year-round demand, not just summer).
Rig zone: What news/trends will you be waiting for this week?
Krishnan: Continued disconnect between Saudi aspirations and the actual price per barrel.
To contact the author, please send an email andreas.exarcheas@rigzone.com
