Real oil market is sinking and Opec+ deal can’t rescue it
The physical oil market, where millions of barrels of real cargoes are traded each day, needed Opec+’s historic cuts to global crude production months ago.
On Sunday, producer nations pledged to limit output by an unprecedented 10 per cent of global supply. While there’s skepticism the cuts will prove deep enough — demand has plunged by far more — a more pressing issue is one of timing: the real market, the one that underpins headline prices, has a huge glut and the output curbs won’t even begin until May. Before then, it’s pump at will so the curbs won’t really affect physical oil supply for months.
