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February 13th and 14th were important days for the world’s oil markets. While important officials from around the world met in Paris for the International Energy Agency’s 2024 ministerial meeting, OPEC also its latest oil market outlook report. The February outlook published by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), in particular, brought some good news at last for oil investors after a difficult end to 2023 and start to 2024. .
The OPEC numbersIn it, oil demand for 2024 was said to remain unchanged at a stable 2.2 million barrels per day (mb/d) and that:
The OPEC Reference Basket (ORB) rose by $1.04, or 1.3%, month-on-month in January to average $80.04 per barrel. Oil futures prices increased, with the ICE Brent front-month contract rising by $1.83, or 2.4%, month-on-month to $79.15 per barrel… The market structure of oil futures prices strengthened, with the front of forward curves for all major benchmarks flipping into backwardation. Selling pressure in oil futures markets eased, and money managers rebuilt part of their bullish positions in ICE Brent.”
A February improvement
This is a sizable improvement from January’s monthly report, which reported that the OPEC Reference Basket (ORB) value fell by 7%, equating to $5.92, month-on-month, and that “The market structure continued to weaken in all markets as hedge funds and other money managers remained bearish, substantially reducing their long positions, which contributed to volatility in prices.”
The Brent crude oil price todayOil prices seem to respond positively, rising higher yesterday and today after the OPEC monthly report was published.Brent crude futures, for example, rose to 77.86 per barrel last night on February 13th, then climbed another 6 cents to as high as $82.83 a barrel this morning, before correcting downward slightly.This is nevertheless significantly higher than the $78.15 per barrel price seen a month ago, on January 15th.However, the Energy Regulatory Authority (EPRA) is expected to review international fuel prices tomorrow February 15th, which may well see oil prices sliding downward once again.More By This Author:Ripple Boosts US Presence With New York Crypto Trust Acquisition US Inflation Data Up 0.3 Percent In January, Will Fed Cut Interest Rates In 2024? Airbnb Q4 Earnings: ‘now Is Time To Expand Beyond Our Core Business’
