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“It’s very bad in Basra,” Croft said. “I mean, we’ve had these protests over the summer for the past couple of years. You have a situation in Basra, it’s the main oil production region in the country, and they complain; they don’t have clean water, they don’t have regular electricity, and that’s a big issue when it’s over 100 degrees [Fahrenheit] in August. But we really have had health crises this summer – 17,000 people went to the hospital in August with cholera, they’re concerned about how the health situation is devolving there – and we’ve had massive protests against the entire political class in the region.”
Despite these supply constraints, any future oil price increases might be dampened by potential easing of demand. Trade war tensions have many concerned about future global economic output and incoming Hurricane Florence threatens to bring widespread power outages across North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.
Investors looking for exposure to the oil market should consider the United States Oil Fund (NYSEArca: USO), which seeks to track the performance of US-produced West Texas Intermediate oil, or the United States Brent Oil Fund (NYSEArca: BNO), which seeks to track the performance of foreign-produced Brent oil.
For more news on the oil markets, visit our oil category.