How Much Oil in Storage?… WSJ – Commodity Research Group

July 25, 2016 by Jim Colburn Leave a Comment

The difficulty of counting oil barrels in storage worldwide is discussed in this article from the Wall Street Journal: http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-much-oil-is-in-storage-globally-take-a-guess-1469380040

“Some countries, such as Russia and China, choose not to report their oil-storage levels. And traders and oil companies that park supertankers have no obligation to make public their supply.”

““The data itself is so inconsistent,” said Harish Sundaresh, portfolio manager and commodities strategist for Loomis, Sayles & Co., which manages $240 billion. “In countries like Nigeria, Brazil, Angola, it’s not trustable.””

Here is what we think we know:

Here is a chart showing the difference between Sep and Oct WTI, which could be looked at as the incentive to store. We have recently moved to an area, -$.70, where the option to store becomes competitive:

Commodity Research Group (CRG), founded by veteran analyst Edward Meir, is an independent research consultancy specializing in base and precious metals, as well energy products. The Group provides research and general price analysis for these markets, along with advice to companies seeking to construct commodity hedging strategies.

Our associates bring decades of experience to the table, as they seek to help our clients understand the markets. CRG will distill the myriad of pricing variables mentioned above into coherent research that is to-the-point and tailored to a clients hedging or pricing needs. In addition, CRG is available for consulting assignments and speaking engagements. CRG does not manage money or trade for itself.

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