Chain gang

摘要

Refiners have unexpectedly become Opec's main allies in bolstering crude prices. Oil is a complex market. But much of the analysis surrounding it focuses almost exclusively on outright crude prices. This leads to a focus on crude supply and its impact on price direction. Is there too little crude, or too much? Such interpretations reduce the meaning of fundamentals to the immediate supply balance, and a simplistic view that looks largely at whether crude stocks are building or falling. The inventory position is then examined in relation to the prices of reference crudes such as Brent or WTI.