The physical oil market, where millions of barrels of real cargoes are traded each day, needed OPEC+’s historic cuts to global crude production months ago. On Sunday, producer nations pledged to limit output by an unprecedented 10% of global supply. While there’s skepticism the cuts will prove deep enough — demand has plunged by far more — a more pressing issue is one of timing: the real market, the one that underpins headline prices, has a huge glut and the output curbs won’t even begin until May. Before then, it’s pump at will so the curbs won’t really affect physical oil supply for months. Signs of weakness abound. Key North Sea crude swaps are trading more than $6 a barrel below the headline Brent futures price of about $28 — the biggest discount in almost a decade. The critically important Dated Brent benchmark that shapes the price […]