Most Popular
1. Banking Crisis is Stocks Bull Market Buying Opportunity - Nadeem_Walayat
2.The Crypto Signal for the Precious Metals Market - P_Radomski_CFA
3. One Possible Outcome to a New World Order - Raymond_Matison
4.Nvidia Blow Off Top - Flying High like the Phoenix too Close to the Sun - Nadeem_Walayat
5. Apple AAPL Stock Trend and Earnings Analysis - Nadeem_Walayat
6.AI, Stocks, and Gold Stocks – Connected After All - P_Radomski_CFA
7.Stock Market CHEAT SHEET - - Nadeem_Walayat
8.US Debt Ceiling Crisis Smoke and Mirrors Circus - Nadeem_Walayat
9.Silver Price May Explode - Avi_Gilburt
10.More US Banks Could Collapse -- A Lot More- EWI
Last 7 days
Stock Market Volatility (VIX) - 25th Mar 24
Stock Market Investor Sentiment - 25th Mar 24
The Federal Reserve Didn't Do Anything But It Had Plenty to Say - 25th Mar 24
Stock Market Breadth - 24th Mar 24
Stock Market Margin Debt Indicator - 24th Mar 24
It’s Easy to Scream Stocks Bubble! - 24th Mar 24
Stocks: What to Make of All This Insider Selling- 24th Mar 24
Money Supply Continues To Fall, Economy Worsens – Investors Don’t Care - 24th Mar 24
Get an Edge in the Crypto Market with Order Flow - 24th Mar 24
US Presidential Election Cycle and Recessions - 18th Mar 24
US Recession Already Happened in 2022! - 18th Mar 24
AI can now remember everything you say - 18th Mar 24
Bitcoin Crypto Mania 2024 - MicroStrategy MSTR Blow off Top! - 14th Mar 24
Bitcoin Gravy Train Trend Forecast 2024 - 11th Mar 24
Gold and the Long-Term Inflation Cycle - 11th Mar 24
Fed’s Next Intertest Rate Move might not align with popular consensus - 11th Mar 24
Two Reasons The Fed Manipulates Interest Rates - 11th Mar 24
US Dollar Trend 2024 - 9th Mar 2024
The Bond Trade and Interest Rates - 9th Mar 2024
Investors Don’t Believe the Gold Rally, Still Prefer General Stocks - 9th Mar 2024
Paper Gold Vs. Real Gold: It's Important to Know the Difference - 9th Mar 2024
Stocks: What This "Record Extreme" Indicator May Be Signaling - 9th Mar 2024
My 3 Favorite Trade Setups - Elliott Wave Course - 9th Mar 2024
Bitcoin Crypto Bubble Mania! - 4th Mar 2024
US Interest Rates - When WIll the Fed Pivot - 1st Mar 2024
S&P Stock Market Real Earnings Yield - 29th Feb 2024
US Unemployment is a Fake Statistic - 29th Feb 2024
U.S. financial market’s “Weimar phase” impact to your fiat and digital assets - 29th Feb 2024
What a Breakdown in Silver Mining Stocks! What an Opportunity! - 29th Feb 2024
Why AI will Soon become SA - Synthetic Intelligence - The Machine Learning Megatrend - 29th Feb 2024
Keep Calm and Carry on Buying Quantum AI Tech Stocks - 19th Feb 24

Market Oracle FREE Newsletter

How to Protect your Wealth by Investing in AI Tech Stocks

Emerging Market Meltdown Could Undermine Oil Price Rally

Commodities / Crude Oil May 31, 2018 - 06:44 PM GMT

By: OilPrice_Com

Commodities

Saudi Arabia and Russia just destroyed the oil price rally, potentially putting an end to all the speculation about what the group might do next. But higher production doesn’t necessarily mean higher oil prices are entirely out of the question, and in fact, the oil market is still faced with a ton of uncertainty.


Higher oil production from the OPEC/non-OPEC group would seem to close off the higher-price scenario. But a “complete collapse” of Venezuela’s oil production could still push oil prices up to $100 per barrel, Bob Parker, investment committee member at Quilvest Wealth Management, told CNBC.

That was echoed by other forecasts. If the losses from Venezuela are combined with disruptions in Iran – knocking off around 1.6 million barrels per day (mb/d) – then Brent could jump to $100 per barrel, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. With that said, there are three potential factors that could prevent triple-digit prices, and instead “cap” oil at about $80-$90: increased production from Russia, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. strategic petroleum reserve.

Still, that is just one part of the story, focused on supply-side disruptions. Another possibility is a demand scenario, one that has received a lot less attention in recent months. While oil traders focus on whether OPEC/Russia will offset outages in Venezuela and Iran, there are cracks forming in the economies of emerging markets, which could threaten to derail the oil market, and do more to drag down oil prices than production increases from the OPEC+ coalition.

The thesis centers on the notion that higher interest rates from the U.S. Federal Reserve and a stronger dollar will have ripple effects across emerging markets. A stronger dollar and higher interest rates make dollar-denominated debt a lot more painful to service in much of the world, dragging down economic activity and putting even more pressure on local currencies. Weakening currencies then make dollar debt even more painful, creating a viscous circle. Economist Paul Krugman says the current cracks in emerging markets are somewhat similar to the lead up to the 1998 financial crisis in Asia.

The evidence is growing by the day. Turkey’s currency, the lira, has lost 20 percent of its value over the past two months. Argentina is seeking a bailout from the IMF as a collapse of the peso has drained public coffers.

More broadly, investors are becoming a bit more nervous about parking money in emerging markets. According to the Wall Street Journal, capital inflows into equity funds around the world slowed to just $8 billion in April, the lowest total since December 2016. Capital is flowing out of emerging markets and instead is rushing into the U.S., where a stronger economy and higher interest rates are making the U.S. comparatively more attractive.

Good news for the U.S., maybe, but bad news for a lot of developing countries. As the U.S. economic story diverges from that of the rest of the world, the dollar has gained in value. The WSJ Dollar Index, which measures the greenback against a basket of 16 other currencies, has gained 5.6 percent since February. Again, a stronger dollar creates a feedback loop in which emerging markets have trouble paying dollar-denominated debt, and it also makes commodities, including oil, much more expensive since they are traded in dollars.

Ultimately, in a worst-case scenario, that could lead to a financial crisis or crises. Governments can’t meet debt payments, currencies collapse, and economic growth grinds to a halt. Debt becomes even more unpayable.

An emerging market downturn, if it occurs over the next year or so, would likely unfold at the same time as the OPEC/non-OPEC group begins to exit, or phase out, the production limits. That means we could have demand destruction happening at the same time as an increase in oil supply, which is obviously a recipe for lower prices. Bank of America Merrill Lynch says that Brent could drop below $60 per barrel by next year if this scenario plays out. “Should PMIs start to deteriorate over the coming months and encourage long oil speculators to liquidate their positions, or new short specs, oil prices could swiftly drop to $60/bbl,” the investment bank said in a note.

With all of that said, the investment bank also says that this isn’t the most likely scenario, but more of a tail risk event. That doesn’t mean it is impossible.

Link to original article: https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Emerging-Market-Meltdown-Could-Undermine-Oil-Rally.html

By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com

© 2018 Copyright OilPrice.com - All Rights Reserved
Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors.

OilPrice.com Archive

© 2005-2022 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.


Post Comment

Only logged in users are allowed to post comments. Register/ Log in