It's not hard to be bullish on oil these days. The Middle East is always in turmoil, but not since the U.S. invasion of Iraq has the situation been this potentially explosive. Though some countries are happy to buy deeply discounted Russian and Iranian oil, Russia and Iran are blacklisted from selling oil to much of the globe. And OPEC has made it clear that it does not plan on loosening production restrictions anytime soon. So we have constricted supply. Meanwhile, GDP is expected to grow this year in all but six countries (not including countries for which there is no data available, like North Korea), and global GDP is forecast to grow by 3.1% this year and 3.2% next year. That should lead to increased demand for oil. We're also headed into the summer driving season. A record 71 million drivers are expected to travel 50 miles or more from home to celebrate the Fourth of July, according to AAA. Of those 71 million, more than 60 million will travel by car. A growing economy and Americans' continued thirst to travel and live life in the aftermath of the pandemic suggest prolonged growth in oil consumption. And Economics 101 teaches us that when demand increases and supply decreases, prices rise. On a technical basis, oil is breaking through an important area of resistance at about $80 per barrel. (Resistance is an area of a chart that a stock, commodity or market has had difficulty rising above. Conversely, support is an area of a chart where the stock, commodity or market has repeatedly stopped falling.) |
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