24.03.201702:23:00UTC+00Oil in Global Economy Series: Goldman Sachs Warns Oversupply Ahead

As investors became worried about the increased oil production in the United States along with increased drilling activity, they have pushed the oil price lower by more than 10 percent over the past few weeks. Oil price now stands at the lowest level since the OPEC deal. WTI is currently trading at $47.8 per barrel and Brent at $2.8 per barrel premium. In November both OPEC and non-OPEC participating producers agreed to reduce production by 1.8 million barrels per day in response to imbalances in the market. But since the deal, production in the United States increased by 0.42 million barrels per day thus negating some of the impacts from the oil deal.

Goldman Sachs, one of the biggest U.S. investment banks have issued a warning saying that the oil market might get hit by further supply glut over the coming three years. The logic shared by the bank says that many mega projects which were taken up during the three-year period when oil price was trading above $100 per barrel would come online over the next three years, especially in Brazil, Canada, Russia, and in the Gulf of Mexico. According to the banks' estimate, the shale oil in the United States, along with the projects from the above-mentioned regions could add another 1 million barrels per day. The investment bank also warned that the markets have become overly optimistic on oil prices since the OPEC deal was announced nearly four months ago.