How Much Oil Is in Storage Globally?
Take a Guess The historic fall in oil prices has created a pileup of inventories, much of it stashed in tanks in the U.S. and other industrialized countries that are committed to disclosing the latest tally, but millions of barrels of oil are flowing to locations outside the scope of industry trackers.
Some countries, such as Russia and China, choose not to report their oil-storage levels. And traders and oil companies that park supertankers have no obligation to make public their supply. This makes for more cryptic and volatile oil markets. How much crude is in these locations, and how quickly it can be resold into the market, can affect oil prices.
“The data itself is so inconsistent,” said Harish Sundaresh, portfolio manager and commodities strategist for Loomis, Sayles & Co., which manages $240 billion. “In countries like Nigeria, Brazil, Angola, it’s not trustable.”
Keeping track of inventories has become more complicated as developing countries store and consume more oil.
wsj.com
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