Oil price boom continues despite the gloomy forecasts

weekly oil price



Oil price rise continued throughout the week despite worrying economic activities due to increased virus infections - across the world.

It's the third wave that is yet to reach its peak and policy makers are collectively scratching their heads to find solutions to mitigate the inevitable impact.

The only solution at present is the news about the effectiveness of a few vaccines. Their efficacy, however, remains to be seen.

Adding insult to injury, the virus is evolving and we can only hope that it will not a few steps ahead of vaccine manufactures, as it often happens with winter flue vaccines.

Perhaps, the hope of the potential of the vaccines and the Coronavirus-fatigue keep investors put their faith in buying stocks; they instinctively know, perhaps, the dark days in April, 2020, when oil price hit below zero, may not repeat in a cyclic way.

Since geopolitical developments are fairly stable in the Middle East, there are no signs of supply disruptions in the region in the foreseeable future, which is encouraging. There are no signs of demand-collapsing either despite the risk of exponential increase in infections, because they mimic a wave - a crest followed by relatively long trough

 

Popular Posts

Oil Price: cloudy outlook with bearish tendencies

Image
The slow growth rate of China's GDP, around 5% according to the latest forecasts,  coupled with the falling gas prices, is clearly inhibiting the potential rise of global oil prices.  China, the world's top oil importer and second largest consumer after the US, enjoyed four decades of robust growth that used to be close to 10% - the envy of the developed world. The latest data from China's Bureau of Statistics, the world's second largest economy is heading towards its own new 'normal' - a relatively modest growth around 5%. Although China still manages to keep its economy growing despite many headwinds, the concerns on many fronts eclipse the growth picture: its frosty relationships with the West, uneasy diplomatic relations with the neighbours, especially around the South China Sea and of course, its troubled neighbourly relationship with India, the world's third largest consumer of oil, to name but a few. The latest concern over China's growth comes in
Read more

Iranian New President: a heart surgeon who gauges nation's pulse - well!

Image
  Iranians elected a new president on Friday in a run-off election, who has pledged to take the country out of international isolation while promising women more rights that include relaxing the strict dress code - the compulsory hijab-wearing in public. Dr Masoud Pezeshkian, the president elect, aged 69, is a former heart surgeon, who had been a minister of health before, in a reformist government from 2001 to 2005. In the first round of the presidential election that was held on June 28 due to the unexpected death of the former president, Ibrahim Raisi, in a helicopter crash, Dr Pezeshkian marginally won the race while beating Saeed Jalili, his nearest rival and a conservative hardliner, who promised to uphold the status quo.  During the heated political debates in the runup to the election, Dr Pezeshkian criticised Iran's confrontational dealings with the West that resulted in hyperinflation and an economy in ruins; he accused the previous hard-line-regimes of leaving Iran in a
Read more

The Double-Edged Sword: Falling Oil Prices and Regional Impacts

Image
  The price of crude oil slightly increased as the weekend approached, something that has been attributed to the rising tension in the Middle East between Israel and Hezbollah, the Shite military group in Lebanon. As of 18:00 GMT, the prices of WTI and Brent were at $81.58 and $86.46 respectively. The price of LNG, liquified natural gas, meanwhile, was at $2,60. The US crude stocks, against all odds, rose again during the last week, deviating from the draw that was reported a week ago. It raises the prospect of feeble demand that has been the case for months; this is rather unexpected in the US, the world's top consuming nation of the fossil fuels, despite the onset of the summer driving season. The fact that the price of oil slightly went up despite the rising US crude stocks has been attributed to the rising tension between Israel and Hezbollah; the northern border between Israel and Lebanon has been a hotbed for hostilities involving both sides since Israel launched a full-scale
Read more

Latest Energy News from EIA