Storage fundamentals turn
A shift in most oil markets from contango to backwardation is changing the outlook for the global storage business
World oil inventories are falling, and the two-year bonanza that handsomely rewarded oil-storage owners may well have run its course. After building through 2014 and 2016, commercial oil inventories in rich countries ended 2016 unchanged from a year earlier, and have since begun to draw, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The agency estimates that the second quarter saw a commercial year-on-year stock withdrawal of 9m barrels, compared with average increases of 45m barrels over the previous five years. This left stocks only 219m barrels over their five-year average, compared with over 330m barrels a year earlier. In its most recent market report, from September, the IEA calc
Also in this section
13 May 2025
A fall in Venezuelan output drives overall production lower, as Saudi Arabia starts to slowly bring more crude to the market
12 May 2025
With the gas industry’s staunchest advocates and opponents taking brutal blows, the sector looks like treading a path of insipid indifference
7 May 2025
From China blocking US LNG to Trump demanding that various countries import more of the fuel, the politicisation of LNG is on the rise
