OIL: BofA Points to Limited Near-term Relief for Oil Markets
Bank of America expects oil to stay at around $100/bbl in the final quarter of the year according to Francisco Blanch, Bank of America head of commodities and derivatives research. * "We really don't see any signs of relief," Blanch said, referring to vessel threats in the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait as well as Middle East and Russia refinery strikes. * "Theres a question about how sustainable the situation is with the US, spending all the money to try to keep vessels flowing through Hormuz" Blanch said. * Asked if Strait of Hormuz flows have reached 80% of pre-war levels, Blanch said "probably not" saying flows have range from "7-12mn bbls a day, pre war we saw 20mn - the East-West added another 4mn bpd on top" * "I think you are maybe getting 60-80% but that still means inventories are going down," Blach said. * "China has tapped their inventories, probably about 10% in the past 6-months, now they are starting to come back into the market," he added. * "We need the US and Iran to find some common ground, I don't think that's likely," he said.
Bank of America expects oil to stay at around $100/bbl in the final quarter of the year according to Francisco Blanch, Bank of America head of commodities and derivatives research. * "We really don't see any signs of relief," Blanch said, referring to vessel threats in the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait as well as Middle East and Russia refinery strikes. * "Theres a question about how sustainable the situation is with the US, spending all the money to try to keep vessels flowing through Hormuz" Blanch said.
* Asked if Strait of Hormuz flows have reached 80% of pre-war levels, Blanch said "probably not" saying flows have range from "7-12mn bbls a day, pre war we saw 20mn - the East-West added another 4mn bpd on top" * "I think you are maybe getting 60-80% but that still means inventories are going down," Blach said. * "China has tapped their inventories, probably about 10% in the past 6-months, now they are starting to come back into the market," he added. * "We need the US and Iran to find some common ground, I don't think that's likely," he said.