So far today got shaken out of a short and am now in my second short sitting on 140 PIPS profit from a sell from 4295.
From the FT.
"Oil production tumbles faster than expected
By Carola Hoyos and Javier Blas in London
Published: January 22 2009 20:28 | Last updated: January 22 2009 20:28
Global oil production is falling faster than market expectations as production cuts by Opec members coincide with a sharp slide in supplies from some producers outside the cartel, raising the prospect of a price rise.
In spite of the drop in supplies, oil prices remain stuck in the mid-$40 a barrel range depressed by weak consumption and worries about the economic crisis. However, traders in the physical oil market said supplies were now beginning to drop into balance with falling demand.
Crude oil tankers, which a month ago were proving unsaleable because of the glut in the physical oil market, are selling relatively quickly as refiners look for supplies to replace the oil they are no longer being offered by Opec countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran and even Venezuela.
âIt is clear that, slowly, the Opec cuts are biting,â said a senior physical trader from a non-Opec country. âThere are some refineries in Asia which are looking for more oil to replace what the Saudis or the Iranians have stopped selling to them.â
Another trader added: âThe Opec cuts are filtering into the market, but the key is whether the demand will recover or not.â
Saudi Arabia, the groupâs biggest and most important member, recently announced it would cut even more of its output than it had pledged at Opecâs most recent meeting in Algeria in December.
Industry officials believe Riyadh will supply fewer than 8m barrels per day in February, down from about 9.7m b/d last summer. The officials added that even Iran, Venezuela, Nigeria and Ecuador were cutting their production, breaking with their traditional habit of paying only lip-service to the cartelâs self-imposed supply limits.
Total Opec oil production was likely to fall in January to just above 30m b/d, down from more than 32.5m b/d last summer, industry officials said. Oil Movements, a tanker tracker consultancy, on Thursday said that Opec supplies would drop in February to a five-year low.
Even though no big producers have announced voluntary cuts in their production to join forces with the Opec cartel, which controls 40 per cent of the worldâs supply, non-Opec output is falling enough to be making a serious dent in supply.
Mexico this week said its oil production last year fell to 2.8m b/d, the lowest level in 13 years, after it suffered a 9 per cent annual drop in output, the largest in more than 50 years. Mexico is the worldâs sixth largest producer. Like North Sea oilfields, Alaskan and Siberian oil deposits, Mexico is struggling with aging deposits that are producing less oil, adding to the pressure Opec has already put on global supplies.
In the US, small producers that operate so-called stripper wells are having to abandon them because they are no longer making money at current prices. Each well pumps only a few barrels of oil, but together account for one in five of all the barrels extracted in the US.
Taking history as a guide, analysts at Sanford Bernstein, the financial services company, predict north American production could fall by as many as 1.3m b/d in 2009 and the start of 2010. That is about a third of the 4.2m b/d all Opecâs active members have pledged to cut so far."