Rumors that Opec-plus producers are planning to delay their planned 2 million barrel per day ramp-up in production from Jan. 1, 2021, by a quarter bounced benchmark Brent back above $40 per barrel. The market is still waiting for a final result in the fraught US presidential election. President Donald Trump looks likely to lose, but with Republicans set to retain control of the Senate, demand-damaging environmental regulations under the Democrat’s Green New Deal suddenly look far less likely. On Wednesday, the US officially exited the UN’s Paris cli- mate accord. A Joe Biden win could also be bullish for oil mar- kets in the short term with a big fiscal stimulus package expect- ed and better trading relations with China. International bench- mark Brent gained $3.28/bbl over the week to close at $40.93/ bbl Thursday. US domestic price-pin West Texas Intermediate gained $2.62/bbl to finish the week at $38.79/bbl. The second wave of Covid-19 is taking a bigger toll on oil demand than ini- tially foreseen. A review of airline flight schedules shows jet fuel demand is expected to be even weaker than conservative fore- casts. Energy Intelligence balances see fourth-quarter demand still growing by 1.5 million b/d from the third quarter, 1.5 mil- lion b/d slower than last month’s assessment. Weakness is expected to slip into the first quarter of 2021 as well.
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