Oil Rises as Fragile Global Market Sensitive to Disruptions

Oil prices surged to a 2018 high after the US weekly crude inventory reported showed a larger than expected drawdown. Weather and geopolitical factors also keep crude bid. Hurricane Florence has changed direction and while not a massive threat to oil production, it is now forecasted to cause catastrophic flooding in the Carolinas.

Supply disruptions have boosted oil prices after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other major producers agreed to limit production, and by doing so stabilized prices. Now the looming US sanctions on Iranian exports have already started to support higher crude prices even as the production cut agreement nears its end.

The OPEC cuts its oil demand forecast which could once again put crude no the back foot if the lessons of 2014 are not applied. The Russian energy minister called global oil markets fragile and a sudden ramp up in production could push oil prices off a cliff.

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