OPEC plan to balance the oil market hinges on third quarter - Bloomberg

OPEC plan to balance the oil market hinges on third quarter - Bloomberg:

The current quarter will be key in shaping the oil supply/demand balances for 2019, according to the latest outlooks from the world’s three major oil-forecasting agencies. If the big inventory draws they expect fail to materialize, OPEC’s goal of pulling down excess stockpiles will be delayed again.

The International Energy Agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries all see the biggest oil inventory draws for the year happening now, during the period of peak demand and before non-OPEC supply surges seasonally, as the summer maintenance season at fields in the Northern Hemisphere comes to an end.

 There are big differences between the ways the three agencies 1 see the global oil supply/demand balance evolving this year. OPEC is much more bullish than either of the others about the size of the stockdraw that we can expect. The producer group now sees global stockpiles falling at an average rate of 780,000 barrels a day in 2019, driven by a draw of more than 2 million barrels a day in the third quarter.