One stop for recent oil data below:
Silence DoGood
9/5/23
🔔 Oil prices are now up 25% since the end of June
🔔 Saudis and Russians agreed to extend production cuts through the end of the year
🔔 Domestic production returns to pre-pandemic levels
🔔 Multi-polar markets on Telegram reported the following:
🛢 Oil to be at $100 per barrel soon, experts say
Trafigura Group, the major commodities trader, believes oil prices could jump as rising interest rates and a lack of investment squeeze the market.
The general consensus is that prices will remain near current levels, but the market is "more fragile than it looks," Ben Lacock, one of the heads of oil trading, said in an interview at APPEC (Asia’s most prestigious Oil and Energy industry conference) in Singapore.
The price of Brent crude already approached $90 a barrel after OPEC+ major countries cut supply and restrictions could continue further.
Oil prices also retain upside potential thanks to booming air travel in China, according to Gary Ross, an oil consultant turned hedge fund manager at Black Gold Investors LLC.
Domestic air travel in China is already back to 110% of pre-pandemic levels, and long-distance automobile travel is still dominated by gasoline-powered cars, he said in an interview.
“You’re gonna have a big increase in jet fuel demand probably of something like 500,000 barrels a day of jet alone in China,” he said.
Brent is likely to trade in a range of between $90 and $100 by the end of the year, Ross said. It stood just below $89 on Friday.
🔔🔔 Silence's take: Saudi Arabia and Russia need higher prices to justify spending on social programs and other projects deems necessary by those governments. OPEC, the world's largest cartel, attempts to control the output of oil and natural gas in a way that keeps prices higher. Of course, some countries are not part of OPEC (the US being the largest non-OPEC country). OPEC members can cheat by pumping more than their stated reports and sell to the black market, but most will fall in line and do what OPEC says they have to do. They can see that China demand in some spots are taking off like flights, but demand is weakening in the manufacturing sectors. China is trying to keep its real estate market afloat, as many of their wealth management products are tied to real estate, but it is but a house of cards for them. This too, will fail, in epic fashion. Was Quid Pro Joe colluding with the enemy in selling our nation's oil from the SPR to the CCP? Or did this also secretly achieve a balance in supply versus demand for OPEC, of which China is the largest consumer, and harm United States National Security? 🔔🔔
God bless,
Silence DoGood
☕✝️