The argument was that a 1.2 million bpd cut was well above the rumored level of 1 million bpd. Whether or not you buy that hypothesis, even 1.5 million bpd is not enough and that is why the so-called relief rally failed to last even a week following the OPEC meeting. But the fact that incremental American production would on its own cancel out OPEC and non-OPEC cuts in 2019 is a point not lost on traders. Problem is, had they chosen that pathway, the most visible beneficiaries would have been U.S. shale players, and OPEC just didn't want to blink. But having seen the end-result in the three weeks since the OPEC meeting, new jitters have surfaced.

Source: Forbes December 29, 2018 16:52 UTC