The latest surge in US oil output will probably hasten the country's rise to the top of the producer pile. There was probably a discrepancy too in December and January.The production surge shown in the monthly data is unprecedented. Their horror scenario is that this shale surge goes hand-in-hand with a slowdown in oil demand growth, triggered by the price rise.There's little sign of that happening yet. Economic forecasts remain strong and that ought to underpin another big increase in the thirst for oil this year. But any signs of global demand growth falling below the 1.53 million barrels a day OPEC forecast could cause ministers some sleepless nights.

Source: Economic Times February 11, 2018 09:22 UTC