Oil prices have fallen below the lows they posted at the beginning of the week, Brent falling to $49 per barrel - its lowest level since the end of January. WTI is priced at below $45 per barrel, which was last the case in mid-March. Even an unexpectedly pronounced 4.4 million barrel reduction in US crude oil stocks last week, as reported by the US Department of Energy yesterday afternoon, was unable to halt the price slide, which was attributable to a fall in imports and a renewed increase in crude oil processing, notes Commerzbank.
The latter rose for the first time ever to more than 17 million barrels per day. The question is how long refineries will maintain this extremely high processing rate. After all, the summer driving season - a period of high demand - will come to an end in a month's time, says Commerzbank.
