By many accounts, EIA crude oil forecasts appear tame compared to what other independent analysts are predicting, and the deal-no-deal that has so far come out of Thursday’s virtual ‘OPEC’ meeting won’t offset anyone’s predictions. The EIA expects global liquid fuels inventories to increase by an average of 3.9 million b/d in 2020 compared to 0.2 million b/d decline in 2019. The agency expects inventory builds to be highest during the first half of the year as the world continues to grapple with a serious lockdown and severely limited air travel. It also expects crude builds to jump from 5.7 million b/d in the first quarter to builds of 11.4 million b/d in the second quarter. Near-term predictions by the IEA and trading houses are much worse. The IEA sees global oil demand falling by about 20 million barrels per day while Trafigura and Vitol see April demand dropping […]