Futures markets are taking an increasingly gloomy view of oil demand. And over the past 2 weeks, the volume of NYMEX contracts to sell crude at $50/bbl has soared 50-fold. But so far, as the blog expected, physical prices have stabilised at the $70/bbl level in advance of OPEC’s emergency meeting on Friday.
Current OPEC President, Chakib Khelil, today indicated OPEC will probably cut production, in stages, by between 1 – 2 mbd. This would be a bold move, just before the US elections. But many OPEC governments simply cannot afford further price falls, if they are to balance their budgets, and so they may well decide they have to take the political heat.