Third Straight Weekly Loss for Crude

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Friday December 28, 2018

After a week of big swings, crude prices ended the week with a whimper to make it a third straight weekly loss.

WTI ended Friday up $0.72, or 1.6%, to $45.33/bbl. By mid-afternoon New York time Brent had crept up $0.06 to $52.22/bbl.

With the start of 2019 now just days away, plenty analyst attention Friday once again turned to predictions of how markets will play out next year, with a growing number of voices expecting prices to make gains from today’s levels.

Bloomberg were among those to note hedge funds were making a growing number of bets on rising Brent prices next year, with UBS Wealth Management’s Dominic Schnider suggesting many in the market are currently underestimating the impact of OPEC+ supply cuts next year.

“We’re looking at oil prices heading towards 70 to 80 bucks [per barrel]. That’s quite a recovery in 2019,” he told CNBC this week.

“Its really predicated on the thought that first of all, OPEC still is here and I think the market is underestimating the fact that they are going to cut supply over 1.2 million barrels and demand looks healthy. I know the market got spooked by slower growth but if i look overall the demand indication we’re looking at over 1.2, 1.3 million barrels of incremental demand. That’s healthy. So we might find ourselves in 2019 in a situation where the market is actually tight.”

Bunker prices eased back Friday in many of the primary ports, but key grade IFO380’s discount to Brent, which was still less than 9% today, remains unusually small.

Ship & Bunker News Team
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