OPEC Monthly Oil Market Report, June 2021
Crude Oil Price Movements: Spot crude prices experienced firm gains in the month of May, rising on average about 6% month-on-month (m-o-m), settling at multi-month highs, amid stronger physical oil market fundamentals. Refiners in most regions showed increases in buying interest on the expectation of a further oil demand recovery with the approach of the summer driving season. The OPEC Reference Basket (ORB) increased by $3.67, or 5.8%, m-o-m in May to average $66.61/b, the highest since May 2019. Year-to-date, the ORB was up 56.8%, averaging $62.16/b, compared to $39.65/b on average over the first five months of 2020. Crude oil futures prices rose in May, with ICE Brent increasing $2.98, or 4.6%, to average $68.31/b, and NYMEX WTI gaining $3.45, or 5.6%, to an average of $65.16/b. Consequently, the Brent-WTI spread narrowed 47¢ to average $3.15/b in May. The market structure of all three major oil benchmarks remained in sustained backwardation. Hedge funds and other money managers reduced their net long positions for crude futures and options in May, mainly for Brent…
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