The oil market saw a rather significant surplus in the first half of 2019, much larger than previously expected. Looking forward, supplies are set to tighten in the second half of the year, but that may only be a hiatus before the glut returns. Global oil supply exceeded demand by about 0.9 million barrels per day (mb/d) in the first six months of this year, according to the International Energy Agency’s latest Oil Market Report . This retrospective look upends the prevailing sentiment that occurred just a few weeks ago. For instance, the IEA said that the oil market saw a surplus of about 0.5 mb/d in the second quarter, while the agency previously thought there was going to be a 0.5 mb/d deficit. “This surplus adds to the huge stock builds seen in the second half of 2018 when oil production surged just as demand growth started to […]

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