The word oil is pictured on an oil bank at a recycling yard in London March 2, 2011. The structure of the oil market is shifting with the one-year price curves for global Brent and U.S. crude converging, a signal that traders say may portend the next leg down in the price rout. U.S. oil firmed over the past two months and global Brent weakened, but the two are now changing course. The reversal undermines conventional wisdom that the U.S. market is rebalancing on a pickup in demand and Brent is backlogged with barrels in floating storage. While punters watch oil prices bounce up and down, real oil traders tend to monitor so-called “term structure” or the differences in contract prices for future delivery. That structure is a key indicator of the market’s health. “WTI is playing some catch-up to Brent structure that’s been weaker for some while, reflecting […]