RE: Oil Up Again22 Apr 2020 17:56
The world is rapidly running out of space to store crude oil, and producers may finally have to admit defeat and cut output, after prices fell below zero this week with supply overwhelming demand as economies slump in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
โThe worldwide economic shutdown has diminished demand so significantly that we are running out of room to store crude oil,โ said Gregory Leo, chief investment officer and head of global wealth management at IDB Bank. โThe math is pretty simple. Current oil production is about 90 million barrels per day, but demand is only 75 million barrels per day.โ
โWhile futures contracts expiring later this year are still trading as high as $30, if this supply/demand imbalance is not corrected their fate will be the same,โ he said in emailed commentary. โAnd with the price of oil so goes the fate of some energy companies,โ
The Energy Information Administration pegged total U.S. working storage capacity is at 653.4 million barrels. Net stocks held at refineries and tank farms was at about 323.5 million barrels as of the week ended April 10, taking up 57% of storage capacity.
โAt the current rate of increase, storage in the U.S. would fill in 7 to 8 weeks,โ said Robert Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho Securities USA, in a note dated Tuesday.