Product inventories are actually pretty low and U.S. refineries are actually coming out of (a period of) maintenance now, (as) the rest of the world goes in."
Her comments come amid some concern about a build-up of oil in U.S.
inventories. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said Wednesday
that crude inventories increased by 4.8 million barrels in the week
ending March 27, from the previous week -- to their highest level for
this time of year in at least the last 80 years.
But Sen argued that U.S. supply was being overdone, saying that
American producers had "built up a lot less than people think."
"So, on balance I don't think we're going to go through the lows again
this year," she said, adding that prices would likely trade sideways,
and possibility towards the low $50s, "but that will form the base to go
higher."
Analysts at
Barclays Research agreed that oil prices would stabilise. "We expect
supply and demand dynamics to help the oil market to bottom in the
second quarter and gradually rebound over the rest of the year," they
said in a note Wednesday.
And some experts are even more bullish. Goldman Sachs this month said
it expected "the new equilibrium price" for oil to be around $70 a
barrel for Brent, and $65 a barrel for WTI, although it does admit "the
risks are skewed to the downside."
These levels imply gains of at around 27 percent for Brent crude from current levels, and a rise of about 38 percent for WTI.
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