 For the second time in three years, Saudi Arabia is slashing the volume of crude it's sending to America in an attempt to force down stockpiles in the world's most visible oil market and thereby hasten the rebalancing of supply and demand. Weekly U.S. oil inventory data is routinely pored over by oil analysts and traders alike. Despite their shortcomings, the figures give the most up-to-date picture of changes in the oil balance and influence trading decisions and crude prices around the world. Shifts in the flow of crude into and out of American ports can have a big impact on the level of U.S. inventories. Riyadh has clearly decided it's time to do its bit to bring them down from heights reached in May and June, when the coronavirus pandemic and the kingdom's own output hike combined to drive the fastest-ever surge in U.S. commercial crude stockpiles. Excess stockpiles act as a drag on oil prices and the most visible stockpiles are in the U.S. because the Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration reports levels weekly. That's in stark contrast to other places around the world where the data are much less timely, if they are published at all. China, for example, stopped divulging official data on inventory levels in 2017. It's no wonder then that Saudi Arabia should focus on the U.S. This is precisely the same policy that it adopted three years ago, shortly after the wider OPEC+ alliance was formed and its first output deal was running into trouble. Read the whole thing. Diseased Chicken for Dinner? The USDA Is Considering It — Amanda Little New York and San Francisco Might Not Bounce Back — Noah Smith Biden's Pick for Vice President Tells Us a Lot — Michael R. Bloomberg TikTok Is Inane. China's Imperial Ambition Is Not. — Niall Ferguson Travel Industry's Scars May Be Permanent — Danielle DiMartino Booth Covid Spread Can't Only Be Explained by Who's Being 'Bad' — Faye Flam Why Young Adults Are Driving the New Coronavirus Spike — Lara Williams Trump's Stimulus Strategy Has Already Failed — Jonathan Bernstein The Future of U.S. Higher Education Could Be in India — Tyler Cowen This is the Weekend Edition of Bloomberg Opinion Today, a roundup of the 10 most popular stories Bloomberg Opinion published this week based on web readership. | 
Post a Comment