Organization of Petroleum-Exporting Countries

After years of being oil's biggest cheerleader, "oil god" Andy Hall, who starting with the OPEC Thanksgiving massacre in 2014 has had several abysmal years, in the process losing the bulk of his AUM, finally threw in the towel last week when in a July 3 letter to investors, he admitted that "the facts have changed" and that "fundamentals have deteriorated significantly" adding that "demand growth seems to be somewhat less than anticipated while supply keeps surprising to the upside...

Venezuela celebrated 206 years of independence in a manner uniquely befitting Latin America’s socialist paradise: A gang of armed Maduro supporters broke into the National Assembly and viciously assaulted opposition lawmakers, nearly killing one.

Here’s Reuters:

“The melee, which injured seven opposition politicians, was another worrying flashpoint in a traumatic last three months for the South American OPEC nation, shaken by opposition protests against socialist President Nicolas Maduro.

 

S&P futures were little changed at 2,425, ignoring the N.Korea tensions of the past two days which will likely be a major topic in the upcoming G-20 summit, as European stocks fluctuate and Asian markets advance. Crude oil fell, snapping the longest winning streak this year, as Russia said it opposed any proposal to deepen OPEC-led production cuts.

""Spot WTI oil prices at $43/bbl are now back to November pre-OPEC deal levels, down from $52/bbl just a month ago and vs. our prior 3-mo $55/bbl forecast. How did it go so wrong?

       - Goldman Sachs

Goldman has done it again.

Authored by Tsvetana Paraskova via OilPrice.com,

OPEC’s production cut deal is unlikely to survive beyond its current deadline in March 2018, with the agreement seen falling apart towards the middle of next year, in which case a huge amount of extra oil would hit the market, Ian Reid, head of European oil and gas research at Macquarie, told CNBC on Thursday.

OPEC’s deal has not had the cartel’s desired effect on the markets, neither in terms of oil prices nor in drawing down the global glut.