← Back to Blog

Oil Market Snapshot – May 2020

  • Brent has risen to c. $35/bbl in May as demand lifts from its lows, US inventories ease and OPEC+ cuts start to take effect, though the benchmark was a little below this level after a build in US inventories
  • There is now talk of extending the 9.7 million b/d cuts level to the end of the year, though we question whether this would be widely adhered to as demand starts to return
  • We now see Brent averaging $34.49/bbl in 2020 and $51.34/bbl in 2021 (-$0.10/bbl and +$8.64/bbl on previous, respectively), though 2021 faces downside risks from a resurgence of COVID-19
  • Our global demand growth forecast for 2020 is now -6.12 million b/d (-230,000 b/d on previous), incorporating wider expectations of a more prolonged recovery in the global economy
  • The short term demand nadir appears to be passed, but full recovery is now expected to take longer
  • Our global supply growth forecast for 2020 is -7.02 million b/d in 2020 (-1.29 million b/d on previous), revised down on further voluntary OPEC cuts and involuntary declines in US LTO
  • We see US LTO declining 1.1 million b/d on average in 2020 (-141,000 b/d on previous) on more...

    Please log in to view
    the rest of this report.


    Not yet a subscriber?
    Contact us today!

    If you do not yet have an account with us and would like to register or find out more, please contact us using our client services form, send an email to admin@petrologica.com or call us on +44(0)1206 823 295.

by Graham Walker // 29 May, 2020

←   Back to Blog