But there are plenty of stops along the supply chain with weaknesses: the start of hurricane season, Iraqi production hanging on by a thread, recent problems in Ecuador, no sign of growth in Russian production and continued speculative interest in being 'long' in this market. The increases of the last month reflect that backdrop. |
By that point, most of the refining capacity was back on line. You were getting very significant imports from Europe. These are things that knock the legs out from under a market. |
Despite marginal falls in individual production levels, OPEC is still pumping nearly flat out in the face of high prices. |
If you've got a loss in refining capacity even if you released oil from the Petroleum Reserve, the fear is that it doesn't have any place to go. |
It's difficult to look around the global oil markets today and find anything bearish, any factors that might push down prices. |
It's nice to have a bit of a cushion. |