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re: Is there going to be another retraction in oil prices?

Posted on 3/18/16 at 10:53 pm to
Posted by Omada
Member since Jun 2015
695 posts
Posted on 3/18/16 at 10:53 pm to
quote:

Is there going to be another retraction in oil prices?
Yes, it is almost a certainty. I'd say there is a 95% of oil prices dropping again, with the remaining 5% devoted to a Black Swan.

Reasons:
1. If Russia and OPEC agree to a production freeze, that frozen production still vastly exceeds demand.
2. If #1 happens, Russia and OPEC's members have proven to be untrustworthy after their last several attempts to control prices. The deals fall apart, and Saudi Arabia is often the one to get screwed.
3. Iran is still working on getting their production up to pre-sanction levels. In addition, Iraq's war with ISIS shut down a vital oil pipeline that delivers oil to Turkey. That pipeline will be getting back online soon.
4. Oil prices at these levels delay what will fix the oil glut: over-leveraged US oil companies going bankrupt. Once oil passed $35, UPL and several other E&P's that were weeks or a few months from bankruptcy suddenly had a glimmer of hope, which you can see in their stock prices. They'll try to pump as much as they can to avoid bankruptcy now.
5. The US oil companies that do not face imminent bankruptcy can take advantage of these prices by hedging their production and bringing online new wells (or previously shut down wells) that are profitable at these prices. Rig count today was up by 1, and it will go up further the longer prices stay at these levels or go higher. And this means more production...
6. US oil storage is at 90% capacity. Yes, 90%. And refinery maintenance season is looming, which will only increase stockpiles. Combine this with #4 and #5, and US storage could reach 100%.

If the US hits 100% storage capacity, prices will drop like a rock. Remember that oil prices are determined by futures contracts, and futures contracts are contracts to deliver a certain amount of some commodity at a certain place and time. The place for oil to be delivered is the storage at Cushing, OK. I'll let you ponder what future prices will do when there is no room for the product to be delivered and what will happen to all of the excess oil that will still be produced until prices drop sufficiently.

In summary, the oil bounce is due to oil bulls running off of Russia and OPEC rumours, meetings, and proposals that won't be passed/followed. The bulls are dangerously ignoring the fundamentals and are, in fact, fueling the glut instead of allowing market forces to slowly fix it.

I'm going to keep watching oil. The glut will end at some point (though it will probably take years), and the fundamentals will improve. I'm thinking of buying MLP's when that happens - ones with good financials and good past and present dividends. But until then, I'm sitting on cash because I'd rather wait for an opportunity instead of try to force one.
Posted by cave canem
pullarius dominus
Member since Oct 2012
12186 posts
Posted on 3/19/16 at 2:53 am to
Agre with all of the above except for


quote:

3. Iran is still working on getting their production up to pre-sanction levels


I feel fairly confident in stating that as Iran's production comes back into the daylight we will see Iraq's "record" production come back down.

Draw your own conclusions.
This post was edited on 3/19/16 at 2:54 am
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