The oil reserves accumulated in the world’s storage facilities during the pandemic have been practically depleted, which could lead to an increase in the price of the raw material in the second half of the year, Bloomberg reports, citing data from the International Energy Agency. Focus “.
In February, oil reserves in the developed economies of the world exceeded by 57 million barrels the average data for this indicator for the period 2015-2019. At the same time, as early as July 2020, surplus oil reserves were almost five times higher – 249 million barrels. According to Bloomberg, stocks have declined further in recent months amid increased demand.
According to him, currently the largest oil reserves are stored in China, and US stocks have practically returned to the level observed before the pandemic, amounting to 1.28 billion barrels by February. On the east coast of the United States, the agency notes, oil stocks reached a 30-year low last week. At the same time, in the last two weeks, oil stocks stored in tankers have fallen by 27% to 50.7 million barrels. The price of Brent oil on the London Stock Exchange ICE on Friday rose to 67.08 dollars per barrel. As Bloomberg notes, against the background of the projected decline in oil stocks in the second half of 2021, the price of oil could rise to 74 dollars per barrel.
At a meeting on April 1, oil exporters decided, contrary to expectations, to increase production from May this year by 350 thousand barrels per day, in June by another 350 thousand barrels per day, and in July by another 450 thousand barrels per day. OPEC + countries, which represent over 40% of the world production of oil are collected every month from the beginning of 2021 to determine production levels in the short term. This approach gives them more flexibility in the face of volatile demand recovery.
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