Oil rose to the highest in about two months as US inventories, Chinese stimulus and an attack on a Russian refinery ignited a rush of trend-following algorithmic buying.
Analysts: oil prices are likely to remain around current levels this year.
OPEC+ producers now have sufficient spare capacity to potentially counter extreme market tightness and disruptions to oil flows that could result from geopolitical risks in the Middle East.
As of November 2023, the OPEC+ alliance held 5.1 million barrels per day (bpd) of spare oil production capacity—or about 5% of global demand.
OPEC+ faces record-breaking U.S. oil production and rising supply from other non-OPEC+ producers, including Brazil, Guyana, Canada, and Norway.
Barring a major geopolitical escalation resulting in a large supply outage, oil prices are unlikely to reach $100 a barrel in 2024.
Paul Sankey: Record-high U.S. oil production is a “huge problem” for OPEC+
The world’s largest crude oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, continues to keep close ties with Russia while the top oil consumer, the United States, pleads with major producers