OPEC’s ‘Wait And Watch’ Decision — Who Wins In A Low Oil Price Environment?
Well, the 168th OPEC meeting in Vienna, Austria just concluded. The oil markets are reacting to official and unofficial commentary from OPEC’s members.
For context, let’s look at what has happened since the last OPEC meeting in November 2014.
- U.S. oil prices have declined by 44%
- U.S. oil and gas rig count has fallen by more than 1,000 rigs
- Non-OPEC crude oil production growth has slowed and is expected to decline in 2016 while OPEC production has increased
- Global demand for oil-based products such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel has increased well above historical averages.
From a performance perspective, the energy sector is down 22%, as represented by the S&P Energy Select Sector Index, oil and gas producers are down 36% as represented by Tortoise North American Oil and Gas Producers IndexSM and MLPs, as represented by the Tortoise MLP Index®, are down 41%. Oil prices are down 44%.
Following today’s meeting we’re left pondering many questions that might be on your mind too.
Read the full article on Forbes here.