The United States Oil Fund (NYSEArca: USO), which tracks West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures, and the United States Brent Oil Fund (NYSEArca: BNO), which tracks Brent crude oil futures, have been struggling this year, but there could be signs of relief on the horizon for oil and the related exchange traded products.
Oil traders are concerned over how fast U.S. shale oil producers will increase production to capture the rising prices. Rig counts have recently ticked higher and with credit and earnings issues improving for some U.S. shale drillers, those companies may seize the opportunity to exploit higher pricing in the near-term.
The good news is oil discoveries are declining and that could crimp supply going forward, potentially boosting the likes of BNO and USO.
“Conventional crude discoveries plummeted to a record low last year, one of the world’s top energy policy advisers said. And it likely won’t get any better any time soon as energy companies gave the green light to the lowest number of new drilling projects in more than 70 years, according to the Paris-based International Energy Agency,” reports CNBC.
Some of the struggles of oil and the energy sector this year can be pinned on investors’ concerns regarding the ability of major oil-producing nations, including the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), to effectively reduce production.
While OPEC is cutting back to alleviate price pressures, U.S. fracking companies could jump to capitalize on the windfall as crude oil prices jump back above $50 per barrel – according to some estimates, shale oil producers can get by with oil at just over $50 per barrel due to advancements in technology and drilling techniques that have helped cut down costs.
“Investment levels remain depressed, and exploration spending is poised to fall for a third straight year in 2017, IEA said in a new report. Energy companies have canceled or delayed $1 trillion in planned projects by one count, as oil prices remain mired in a slump going back to the summer of 2014. The price collapse was sparked by a boom in U.S. production and compounded by OPEC’s refusal to cut output during the first two years of the downturn,” according to CNBC.
Active traders now have some new choices to profit from big moves in crude prices. ProShares rolled out the ProShares UltraPro 3x Crude Oil ETF (NYSEArca: OILU) and ProShares UltraPro 3x Short Crude Oil ETF (NYSEArca: OILD) debuted on Monday. OILD and OILU debuted earlier this year.
For more information on the crude oil market, visit our oil category.