“While wild price swings are set to last in the very near term, we see more upside than downside from prices around $20 per barrel. BP Chief Executive Bernard Looney told Reuters his firm expected global oil demand to drop by about 15 million barrels per day (bpd) in the second quarter due to coronavirus-related movement restrictions. “The exodus in our view remains motivated by concerns over the saturation of storage capacity at Cushing and the associated risk of negative pricing,” Harry Tchilinguirian, global oil strategist at BNP Paribas, told the Reuters Global Oil Forum. Global storage onshore was estimated to be about 85% full as of last week, according to data from consultancy Kpler. In a sign of the energy industry’s desperation for places to store petroleum, oil traders are resorting to hiring expensive US vessels to store gasoline or ship fuel overseas, shipping sources said.

Source: The Express Tribune April 28, 2020 12:22 UTC