Russia

Snapback after a whack, give a dog a bone, this old man comes rolling home. It looked doomy and gloomy in crude oil for a while as trade war fears and reports of increases in OPEC and Russian oil production weighed on market psyche. Yet, after a report about another drop in supply in the Cushing, Okla., delivery point, and talk that U.S. oil production is not what it was reported to be, the mood quickly shifted.
The biggest crude oil draw since 2016 was not enough to stop oil from a major drop in price. A slew of oil supply side stories includes the resumption of Libyan crude exports, an increase in Saudi Arabia crude output, possible waivers on U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil and reports that oil is on the agenda when President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet next month.
Just a few years ago the mantra on crude oil prices was “lower for longer.” Irrational pessimism about the dynamic power of the U.S. economy as well as a misunderstanding about the potential and risks associated with shale oil production substantially impacted investment decisions. We had this doom and gloom attitude that the U.S. days were behind us and our manufacturing in the United States was hopelessly lost forever.
OPEC speculation and a strong dollar on trade war fears is providing highs and lows on the crude oil market. Oil was rallying on a big 5.9 million barrels draw in inventory, and a record-breaking week for U.S. refiners as they ran a seasonal record 17.7 million barrels a day crude oil last week according to Energy Information Administration data.
Crude oil prices got hit hard as the trade war for oil traders got personal. In a tit for tat, the Chinese government announced tariffs on U.S. oil imports as well as other energy products, in a sector that U.S. President Donald Trump promised to make great again. This along with the fact that most people believe that OPEC and Russia will decide to increase oil output even after reports that Bloomberg says that Iran, Iraq and Venezuela will veto the increase.
As Russia smoked Saudi Arabia in the World Cup, crude oil ministers from those two countries signaled that indeed OPEC and Non-OPEC countries will be raising oil output. Saudi Arabia’s oil minister said it is “inevitable” that OPEC and Russian production will rise by what he says is a "reasonable and moderate" amount. T
A funny thing happened on the road to Singapore. The Group of 7 joint communique was agreed to by all nations until the Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau made a statement after President Trump was on the plane going to try to rid the world of the North Korean regime’s nuclear weapons and said that “U.S. tariffs were kind of insulting” and he “will not be pushed around’ set off President Trump and his advisors.
Crude oil prices roared back after the Russia central bank sent signals that they were not very happy about the rapid drop in crude prices, and European markets bounced back as Italian political factions have decided to talk. This comes as there is more evidence that OPEC and Non-OPEC have achieved their goal of getting rid of the global petroleum glut.
Crude oil prices are still reeling from the threat that OPEC and Russia may raise output and fear that turmoil in Italy could cause larger problems in the Eurozone. This comes as sub-tropical Storm Alberto poured a lot of rain in Florida denting some gasoline demand. While it looks like the first hurdle of getting gasoline supplied by Memorial Day has cleared, the oil market will still be undersupplied even if OPEC and Russia add the amount of oil that they say they will.
Crude oil bears must face virtual reality as OPEC says that the global oil glut is “virtually” gone. Now there are reports that the Saudi oil minister Khalid al Falih wants to reduce stockpiles even further. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak is on board saying that Russia was committed to a deal on cutting oil supplies until the end of 2018, no matter what.