“This is pretty much a bullish trifecta when it comes to supplies,” Phil Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group, told Reuters. “We’re starting to see the impact of the OPEC production cuts. We’re seeing the impact of the Venezuelan cuts.”
Crude oil prices have rallied by almost a third this year on supply cuts among the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies such as Russia, along with renewed U.S. sanctions against oil exporters from Iran and Venezuela.
However, risks remain, especially with the demand outlook. The prolonged trade spate between the U.S. and China has weighed on global markets, fueling concerns over a slowdown in economic growth this year.
“U.S.-China trade talks continue to present a binary risk for the oil market and other risky assets,” BNP Paribas strategist Harry Tchilinguirian told the Reuters Global Oil Forum.