What does a balances oil market mean?
Supply and demand might come back into line this year, but without the kind of price rises the industry hopes for
IF ONE bit of jargon captures the hopes of the oil industry right now, it's "rebalancing". The term has become ubiquitous and it means that the glut will have ended. Supply and demand will be in balance. Things can get back to normal. Elsewhere in our July/August issue, we note the consensus: that the rebalancing is underway. The International Energy Agency (IEA) thinks so. It says faster-than-expected demand growth in the first half of the year and recent supply outages have combined to mean the market will be "balanced" in the second half. Stocks will fall in the third quarter. Demand, says the IEA, will rise by a robust 1.3m barrels a day this year and at the same pace in 2017. This is bu
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