OPEC + is going to a largely technical meeting next week where major changes in policy are unlikely.
They agreed to ease cuts of about 7 million barrels per day (bpd), by 350,000 bpd in May, another 350,000 bpd in June and further 400,000 bpd or so in July.
In addition, Saudi Arabia said it was phasing out its extra voluntary cuts by July, a move that will add 1 million bpd over the next three months.
The meeting to be held next week is not expected to make any changes to the current agreement, only technical monitoring and analysis of the market is in question.
The Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday that US crude oil inventories rose unexpectedly last week, while inventories of distillate and gasoline rose modestly and refining rates remained stable.
Analysts described the unexpected increase in crude oil inventories as somewhat disappointing overall.
This year, the COVID-19 outbreak has reduced oil consumption, and predictions by major energy companies, producers, and analysts as to when the world’s oil demand may peak is constantly on the agenda.
The rise of electric vehicles and the switch to renewable energy sources are already causing downward revisions in long-term oil demand forecasts.
While there is no consensus on when oil demand will peak, the revised forecasts are an invaluable boon in the fight against climate change.
It is both a commercial and a global responsibility for oil companies to focus on exploring and developing new resources.
Electrification adoption is accelerating in transport and other oil-dependent sectors, and oil is expected to fall out of favor more quickly and faster than previous estimates.
In addition to the surprising presence of electric vehicles in the agenda, assumptions in all scenarios show that demand for oil is phasing out, being substituted, or recycled across a range of industries.
