Energy: Fuelling on Tightening Production

On 18 September, brent crude oil breached US$90 per barrel for the first time this year as consumption outpaced production. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), summer air travel, increased oil use in power generation and surging Chinese petrochemical activity pushed the global oil consumption to grow by 0.2 million barrels per day (mb/d) month-on-month (MoM) to 101.37 mb/d in August. At the same time, global production plunged to its 7-month low of 100.79 mb/d on the back of output cut from Saudi Arabia. Downstream refineries struggled to catch up with demand, as utilisation of refineries in the US and Asia (Japan, China, India, Singapore and South Korea) hit over 90% and increased throughout the second quarter.