Paul Wiseman looks at what’s driving the latest trends As with any commodity, oil prices are ruled by two sides of the coin – supply and demand. Energy experts agree that production decisions by OPEC+ are the most important supply side influences, while COVID-19 and concerns about possible variant-induced shutdowns heavily influence demand. In its August Short Term Energy Outlook, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimated OPEC+ production would average 33.0 million bpd for the second half of 2021. The most recent OPEC+ agreement called for production to rise each month by 400,000 bpd until previous cuts are fully […]
