Crude Oil Prices Set For Weekly Gains, Virus Stokes Production Cut Talk
Production cuts of crude oil is expected to resume by the end of September for the first time in a year, making it even more likely that we will see prices above the $100 mark. In the first half of the year we have seen oil prices double at the most, which means it is likely to do so again. The global oversupply has created the fuel price hike, and Saudi Arabia has agreed to cut back production to meet the demand of the oversupplied market.
The demand over supply has created an imbalance in global markets, and that has prompted a balance of payments crisis for the major banks and the US Federal Reserve Bank. A temporary solution has been put in place to address the problem, and the other nations have agreed to match their oil production cuts with the supply cut. The global market is saturated with crude oil and with no way to move supplies to other markets, these countries will need to put together a deal that will allow them to maintain their export income without sacrificing their own domestic prices.
Saudi Arabia has been forced to take the action required to fix the price of oil because the other members of OPEC cannot agree to an agreement on production cuts. If OPEC can’t come to an agreement, then this would mean that the other members would have to cut back on the amount of crude oil they produce and so the price would go up for them.
With the pressure to cut production, the United States is in a position to tap into the balance of payments by selling the crude oil from its fields. When this happens, the balance of payments will be on a higher level.
The various producers are waiting to see if OPEC can agree to cut production and if they can keep production levels down, or if the other countries will be able to come to an agreement. In the past few months, the price of oil has continued to rise and if OPEC agrees to produce less crude oil, then prices will drop further.
The oversupply of crude oil has been created by over-production in the United States, as well as the massive influx of crude oil to the Persian Gulf, as the Persian Gulf has become a destination for refineries to process Middle Eastern crude oil. This has allowed the production to increase so much that it is beginning to affect the other countries in the Gulf.
The increase in exports has created a large gap between exports and imports, and this has created a high level of dependency on the United States, which is not sustainable. As the United States increases production, the oversupply of crude oil will lessen, but the demand for it will remain strong, and there will be a price to meet that demand.
Increased dependence on the seaports has also caused the increasing prices, and seaports in the US are seeing increased expenses for labor, facilities, and supplies. Other seaports around the world are noticing this trend, and they are beginning to look at alternatives that are less costly, like shipping crude oil through rail cars rather than tanks on land.
The oil prices in the United States are being pushed up by the increase in the amount of imports, and this has created a dilemma for the seaports that are only profitable if they import in volume. Some of the seaports have seen lower profits in the last couple of years, which has caused some serious tension between them and the oil companies, who want to export in volume.
The situation in the Gulf Coast is similar to that of the North Sea, where the production is coming in very low and the oil companies are looking at ways to expand into the US. With the new refinery at the Port of Corpus Christi and the expansion of the Port of Houston, the oil companies will be able to bypass the higher costs of transporting the crude oil in tankers.
The production at the new refinery has been increased to meet the demand, and it will soon become the largest refinery in the country. It is unclear what effect the new refinery will have on the price of oil, but it is likely to increase it as other refineries near it see lower revenues from oil production.