November 22-2013
SLUGGISH — The daily price of an OPEC barrel (above) remains just above $100 while the monthly average (below) is seen falling modestly. You wouldn’t guess from this that supply disruptions at the start of November actually cut 3 million barrels a day out of supply. The recovery of Libyan production unraveled in that country’s chaos, and unplanned outages reduced Iraq’s output. But the market didn’t seem to care as North America and Saudi Arabia boosted output while refinery maintenance and sluggish global economic growth reduced demand. But the daily business reporters kept pointing to the nuclear negotiations with Iran as supposed explanations for the modest shifts that take place on any particular day.