Liam Denning, Columnist

It's Already Time to Start Thinking About Oil in 2019

The recent rally may have inspired some firms to hedge next year's production.

January 11, 2018 at 3:37 PM UTC

Liam Denning is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering energy. A former banker, he edited the Wall Street Journal’s Heard on the Street column and wrote the Financial Times’s Lex column.

1515684901_GettyImages-77804571 — Photographer: Mario Tama/Getty Images

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I know the year's barely started, but it's already time to start thinking about 2019.

The reason is the oil rally that has taken West Texas Intermediate back above $60 a barrel; Brent to about $70; and analyst chatter to the rarefied realm of $80. Focusing in on WTI, there's been a big shift in the futures curve over the past six months: