It appears that oil market oversupply may already be upon us, with demand being hit hard by Omicron and by China cracking down on its independent refiners.

Oil and gas companies have well and truly recovered from what was a crisis year in 2020, with some companies now posting record cash flow.

Prior to the pandemic, the utilization rate of U.S. oil pipelines stood at 60 to 70 percent.Half Of U.S. Oil Pipelines Sit Empty NOW.

Extreme weather events resulting from the changing climate are threatening some 40 percent of the world’s recoverable oil and gas reserves, risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft has said in a new report.

Driven by high refinery throughput, China likely drew crude oil from its commercial and strategic inventories in November, according to estimates from Reuters columnist Clyde Russell.

OPEC, the IEA, and the EIA all have different opinions on where oil demand may be heading in the immediate future.
The three groups do have one commonality in their forecasts, however; COVID-19 will remain a driving force.
Despite the differences in exact expectations, the three organizations remain generally optimistic about oil demand.

Investments in oil and gas exploration and production continue to be depressed
Moody's: Global annual upstream spending needs to increase by as much as 54 percent to $542 billion if the oil market is to avert the next supply shortage shock

Across the world, politicians are grappling with the reality of expensive energy
Price shocks, scarcity and energy poverty are on the cards after two consecutive years of underinvestment in the oil and gas industry
World leaders might have to acknowledge that oil and gas demand are here to stay for the foreseeable future

Nigeria’s Niger Delta continues to be plagued by insurgents and oil spills
Nigeria struggles to keep oil majors interested in sustaining their operations in the country
The country’s new petroleum bill is no guaranteed recipe for success

California is by far the most ambitious U.S. state when it comes to things like emission standards, EV sales, and renewable energy. California is shutting down its nuclear power plants to double down on wind and solar.

It is also importing more oil from the Amazon rainforest than any country in the world.

U.S. Rig Count Unchanged After Crazy Week In Oil Markets.There has been no net change to the number of active drilling rigs in the United States this week, according to Baker Hughes.

OPEC+ agreed to ease production cuts in January by 400,000 bpd
OPEC+: There will also be an extension of the compensation cuts
Saudi Arabia and Russia had already signaled that Omicron shouldn’t be a reason to jump to hasty decisions