Commodities Week Ahead: Oil Bulls Wish for More OPEC Magic as Greyer Q4 Dawns
After a near 30% run-up in just three months, oil bulls are counting on OPEC to sprinkle a little more magic dust on the market.
But the enablers of oil’s third-quarter rally — namely Saudi Arabia and Russia — are anticipating an array of different challenges for the October-December stretch that could make a repeat performance difficult.
Hiroyuki Kikukawa, president of Tokyo-based NS Trading, said in comments carried by Reuters:
«Whether or not the market will rise further will depend on future demand trends.”
Asia's crude oil imports slipped for a second consecutive month in September as refinery maintenance trimmed demand and the impact of higher prices started to weigh, Reuters reported, citing LSEG data.
The world's top importing region saw arrivals of 24.95 million barrels per day in September, down from August's 25.22 million, according to LSEG.
Crude prices began the fourth quarter in the positive, trading modestly higher by Monday afternoon in Asia, after a 1% drop in last month’s final session that took just a little shine off their blockbuster gains in July to September.
Supporting the market were comments made privately to the media by sources within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries that the 13-member Saudi-led OPEC and its 10 independent oil producing allies steered by Russia were unlikely to tweak production targets for November and December. The OPEC+ alliance meets Wednesday to review output policy for the rest of the year.
The Saudis and Russians pledged last month to cut at least 1.3 million barrels per day of their regular production until the end of the year, in what many believe was a bid to bring crude back to $100 a barrel or more. U.S. crude went from lows of beneath $64 a
Read more on investing.com
