Oil prices continued their decline last week, with the market adversely affected by global financial turmoil, slowing growth and deteriorating liquidity. The week ended with losses of about $5 per barrel — the steepest decline in three years — with prices now around $33 lower than three months ago. The recent OPEC+ deal — in which the producer group and its allies agreed to cut oil production by 1.2 million barrels per day from January — is not yet reflected in the movement of future prices. However, it is effectively reflected in the physical market, where Brent has flipped back into backwardation after being in contango since early November, amid the US sanctions waivers on Iranian oil exports. The oil price fall at the end of this year triggered speculative short positions and an enormous sell-off in the US stock markets ahead of New Year holidays. That came simultaneously […]