Why oil markets are yawning as Mideast powers rattle sabres
PRICE RISE HAS ACTUALLY BEEN QUITE MUTED BECAUSE THE WORLD IS IN A SURPLUS SITUATION
At almost any other time, an escalating diplomatic conflict between Opec members Iran and Saudi Arabia would mean a spike in oil prices.
That the rally this time couldn’t be sustained shows just how abnormal things are in the oil market. Brent crude has fallen 0.5 per cent this week as a global supply glut and the slowest Chinese growth in a generation trumped mounting strife between the nations on either side of the world’s busiest waterway for oil tankers.
“When oil supplies were tight, we’ve seen bigger reactions to geopolitical tensions,” Tushar Tarun Bansal, a senior oil analyst in Singapore at industry consultant FGE, said by phone on Monday. “Now the price rise has actually been quite muted because the world is in a surplus situation.”
There was little more than a blip in crude futures when Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic ties with Iran, as investors focused instead on record stockpiles and rising supply. As Kuwait and the UAE lined up to support Riyadh, the internal divisions that prevented the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries from making production cuts even as prices plunged to an 11-year low appeared more entrenched than ever.
Saudi Arabia gave Iran’s ambassador 48 hours to leave after protesters set its embassy in Tehran on fire following the execution of Shiite cleric Nimr Al Nimr. It was the worst clash between the nations since the 1980s, adding to proxy wars they were already fighting from Syria to Yemen in a quest to gain influence in the Middle East.
The impact of the tensions is limited because the oil market remains oversupplied, Macquarie Group Ltd. analysts including Vikas Dwivedi said in a note. The events “may severely limit the possibility of peace in surrounding countries, but do not directly threaten crude oil production,” the bank said.
The world is awash in oil after Opec members led by Saudi Arabia committed to a strategy of increasing market share by pressuring high-cost producers, rather than cutting output to support prices. This policy has resulted in record oil inventory levels that will probably keep growing for most of the year, the International Energy Agency said last month. This provides a cushion against any unexpected turmoil.
Brent, the global benchmark, dropped 0.2 per cent on Monday, erasing a gain of as much as 4.6 per cent. Futures for February settlement fell another 0.3 per