Important Development At OPEC One More Thing
"The Joint OPEC-Non-OPEC Ministerial Monitoring Committee ("JMMC") met in St. Petersburg today to review the June 2017 report."
"This article presents my notes from the press release and the subsequent press briefing."
During the press briefing that followed the JMMC meeting, Saudi Arabia Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih noted that supply (i.e. exports) from Saudi Arabia would decline to 6.6 mbd in August. As the following graph illustrates, 6.6 mbd would be comfortably below the five-year range.
![](https://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2017/7/24/340087-15008990788114092.png)
This is a significant development in that it would ensure the continuation of recent large draws in excess inventories in OECD countries into early 4Q17.
Bottom Line
The slow-moving excess inventory drawdown is continuing. As oil prices have remained depressed through July, the US oil rig count has recently stabilized and may even start declining in the coming weeks. The lack of a cap announcement on Libya/Nigeria will be disappointing to the markets today, but Saudi Arabia's commitment to cut its own supply to the markets will likely be enough for excess inventories to continue to decline through October."
Worth a read in its entierty:
[url=https://]https://seekingalpha.com/article/4089831-important-development-opec[/url]