News

Citigroup Says To Short Oil After Summer Is Over - OilPrice.com

OilPrice.com · last updated

Citigroup Says To Short Oil After Summer Is Over | OilPrice.com
Citigroup Says To Short Oil After Summer Is Over

Impact investing has grown rapidly…

The world's dependency on heavy…

Citigroup is advising traders to short oil and oil products after the summer is over, after which the current oil price rally will be over.

A hurricane—and only a hurricane—is the one thing that could change the fatter supply outlook for the post-summer months. Citigroup’s commodity research team warned traders that global oil demand typically peaks in August—but it went a step further, casting doubt on recent forecasts of tighter global crude oil supply from agencies including the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the International Energy Agency (IEA), and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

The IEA and OPEC are both estimating draws this year, and deficits next year, with the EIA sees a 100,000 bpd shortfall this year and a 200,000 bpd surplus next year.

But according to Citigroup analysts, the oil markets will see a 200,000 bpd surplus this year, and a whopping 1.8 million bpd surplus next year, with additional oil supplies coming from both within OPEC+ and out.

Citi warned traders that OPEC+ would have to cut deeper if they hoped to keep prices above $70 per barrel.

On Thursday, Brent crude was trading at $84.61 per barrel—up 1.39% on the day as both the API and EIA estimated stock draws for crude oil.

Citi says the reason for the significant divergence between their forecast and those other agencies are several flaws in the assumptions used—most notably, Iran and Iraq that have oil projects in the works. It also suggested that Venezuela and Nigeria—two countries that have been unable to pull their oil industries out of the doldrums for years—could also ramp up production.

"There is simply too little demand growth to expect markets to tighten from [emerging market] growth alone," Citigroup’s report said.

ADVERTISEMENT

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:

Join the discussion| Back to homepage

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: petroleum

State of Play

While electric-powered vehicles may be the ride of the future, oil remains at least for now the dominant fuel for transportation around the world. And after a period of time at the end of the 20th century when oil was subject to wide fluctuations in price, new supplies in North America as a result of non-conventional recovery techniques have helped stabilize prices.

More informationabout ENERGY BASICS: petroleum