Crude stocks rise despite perception of tightness

Analysts warn of economic headwinds for the crude and product markets

Global crude inventories are rising, suggesting the market is not short of supply and that capacity constraints are on the refining side, says energy analytics firm Vortexa, on the same day an EU agreement on a ban on Russian seaborne imports helped spur crude prices to even higher levels. Seaborne crude exports from Opec+ countries have broadly trended downwards since the start of 2018, says Vortexa chief economist David Wech. Of those states, only Saudi Arabia and the UAE still have some spare production capacity, but they have not increased their recent exports. And both of those countries “probably have less spare capacity than most of the market believes”, Wech continues. Nevertheless,