Rallying oil prices in recent weeks have intensified speculation that this week the OPEC+ group will decide to put more oil on the market as of April to prevent an over-tightening of the market and preserve market share. As tempting as high oil prices could be from a budget perspective for the biggest oil-exporting nations in the Middle East and Russia, oil at $70—as many banks now believe prices would reach as early as next quarter—would be a drag on the tentative demand recovery, with large importers such as India signaling they are not very happy with this year’s rally. Rising oil demand amid expectations of a vaccine-assisted economic rebound in major economies and tightening oil supply, courtesy of the OPEC+ production cuts, have sent oil prices to their highest levels since January 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic started eroding economies and demand. The market fundamentals plus the Texas […]