Oil benchmark needs more oil… WSJ

Here are Sarah McFarlane and Christopher Alessi, WSJ, on the decline in oil production streams that support the Brent futures contract:

”The widely used benchmark risks losing relevance amid declining production from the oil fields that it is priced off. Other oil benchmarks are clamoring for its role, including in China and Dubai, while the U.S. oil gauge, West Texas Intermediate, is gaining more currency abroad as American crude is exported.”

But help is on the way:

”The Johan Sverdrup field, about 87 miles west of Stavanger, Norway, is due to begin production in 2019 and could offer Brent a lifeline by boosting the volume of crude used to price it and making it more reflective of the wider market, analysts say.”