Submitted by Gregory Brew via OilPrice.com,
Despite some suggestions that oil prices will level off at around $60 in 2017, since the initial surge of the OPEC production deal prices have barely nudged above $53. Over the long-term, outlooks are more bearish than bullish, and a major reason for that is the strong likelihood of increased production in three places: Libya, Nigeria and Iran.
With just 24 hours left in Obama's tenure, the U.S. president launched his final airstrike on ISIS after two B-2 bombers carried out airstrikes on two ISIS camps in Libya overnight, defense officials said Thursday, part of an operation targeting militants driven out last year from their coastal stronghold. The stealth bombers struck jihadis 45 kilometers southwest of Sirte, located halfway between Tripoli and Benghazi.
A map showing location of Sirte, Libya.
As the Dollar Index surged post-manufacturing data, WTI Crude began to lose altitude from its overnight ramp. Combined with ongoing concerns over Libya's production ramp, crude just crashed from over 55.00 to under 53.00 in minutes on heavy volume...
It seems the catalyst was the USD index breaking recent highs...
But now both Oil and the dollar are tumbling...
The greatest trick OPEC ever pulled was convincing the world to buy oil even as production kept rising to new all time highs. Case in point, just out from Reuters:
Via GEFIRA,
NGOs are smuggling immigrants into Europe on an industrial scale