OPEC’s Ever-Deteriorating View of the Oil Market
Figures from OPEC, IEA, EIA indicate that an easing of oil production curbs in January looks increasingly challenging.
OPEC sees excess stockpiles draining slowly
Photographer: Bloomberg/BloombergEvery time the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries assesses the short-term outlook for the oil market, it gets just a little bit bleaker. The group’s own numbers are piling pressure on its members and their allies in the so-called OPEC+ coalition to delay or water down output cuts originally planned for January.
The world now needs anywhere between about 600,000 and 2.2 million barrels a day less crude from OPEC countries through the end of 2021 to balance supply and demand than was thought necessary three months ago, according to the latest monthly reports from OPEC, the International Energy Agency and the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Of the three, OPEC is the most pessimistic.