Saudi Arabia Turns Off America’s Oil Taps Again
The strategy worked wonders in 2017. It will be more challenging this time around unless the pandemic eases its grip on oil demand.
Saudi crude flows to the U.S. dwindle.
Photographer: Jean-Francois Monier/AFP via Getty Images
For the second time in three years, Saudi Arabia is slashing the volume of crude it’s sending to America in an attempt to force down stockpiles in the world’s most visible oil market and thereby hasten the rebalancing of supply and demand.
Weekly U.S. oil inventory data — usually published on a Wednesday and covering the period up to the previous Friday — is routinely pored over by oil analysts and traders alike. Despite their shortcomings, the figures give the most up-to-date picture of changes in the oil balance and influence trading decisions and crude prices around the world.