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

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…

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Oil price: diverging forecasts on oil demand from two global giants

IEA (2024), Annual oil demand growth, 2011-2025, IEA, Paris The Paris-based International Energy Agency, IEA, put a damper yet again on the perceived demand for oil in 2024 and 2025, in stark contrast to that of the OPEC+, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries plus Russia. According to IE…

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Sharp rise in US crude stocks: the only chart that explains the oil price stagnation

The price of oil has been down for the fourth successive week with Brent hitting below $80 again. As of 18:00 GMT on Friday, the prices of WTI and Brent recorded $75.53 and $79.62 respectively.  The long-awaited meeting of the OPEC+, meanwhile, went ahead on Sunday, June 2, with some members opted f…

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The latest blow to the oil and gas markets: Chinese manufacturing sector shrinks again!

In the ascending order of anxiety, the OPEC+ has been forced to accumulate a growing range of bad news in recent times for its decision makers to digest. In this context, the latest manufacturing data from China hardly comes as a catalyst for optimism, as far as the oil cartel is concerned. China…

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Argentinian Shale Oil Boom: is it Milei's miracle?

Image Credit: Times of India Javier Milei, the flamboyant, Argentinian president, who came to power in December  by performing a series of unorthodox, political stunts, appears to be determined to assign a range of controversial tasks to his most striking political symbol during the campaign - the c…

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The release of 1 million barrels of gasoline may not make a dent in the energy prices

With just six months to go before the presidential election in the fall, the Biden administration of the US appears to be taking the task of taming the inflation much more seriously than it did in the past few months. In this context, the announcement made by the DoE, Department of Energy, on May 21…

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Cracks Appear in OPEC+ Facade as Kazakhstan Seeks Production Hike

The OPEC+ alliance is bracing itself for yet another acid test in the next few days, as Kazakhstan, a key member from the Central Asian region, said on Tuesday that it wanted to have a bigger quota in 2025, when the currents oil output cuts expire. Unless the members of the OPEC+ settle the dispute …

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Stagnating Oil Prices: can OPEC+ ever provide the crucial spark?

The members of the OPEC+, who met virtually last week, decided to leave the production cuts unchanged, perhaps in light of stagnating oil prices.  Having failed to shore up the prices by tinkering with the supply side of the oil equation, the de facto leader of the organization, Saudi Arabia, even t…

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