Weekly Energy Recap: New Saudi energy minister brings some comfort to the market comfort to the market

Although oil prices weakened compared to a week earlier, Brent crude remained above the $60 barrier. WTI softened to $54.85 per barrel.

Oil prices have fallen by about $10 per barrel from a peak in early April, but remain broadly stable.

The appointment of the new Saudi energy minister brought comfort to the market as he emphasized a consistent Saudi energy policy.

Beyond the ups and downs of the oil price, it was an eventful week as global industry leaders gathered at the the 24th World Energy Congress, which itself preceded the 16th Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) for OPEC and non-OPEC.

US crude oil inventories continued to reduce as US drilling companies cut the number of operating oil rigs for a third week in a row.

The Brent and Dubai price structures dipped further into “backwardation” (where the spot price is higher than the future price), pointing to tight supplies and healthy demand.

Yet this was not enough to lift the price of oil over the week as analysts remained firmly focused on the global demand outlook framed by expectations of slowing global growth and persistent trade wrangles.

Both the International Energy Agency (IEA) and OPEC monthly market reports pointed to bearish demand, even as a strong consensus emerged from the OPEC JMMC gathering.

Still, lower oil prices should also stimulate demand despite the IEA sticking to its earlier projection of demand growth at 1.1 million
barrels per day (bpd) in 2019 and 1.3 million bpd in 2020.