A Watershed Moment that could Send Oil Prices to $100

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Crude oil prices could reach $100 per barrel, according to Ninepoint Partners portfolio manager Eric Nuttall, the latest to add to a growing number of analysts expecting three-digit oil prices.
“The oil market remains exceptionally tight,” Nuttall told Bloomberg, adding, “When we look at global oil demand, we’re back to pre-COVID levels. So there are strong reasons to believe the market will continue to grow throughout this year as Omicron passes.”
“But the real story remains on supply. I believe we’re in a structural bull market – a multi-year bull market for oil that will end in all-time high oil prices,” Nuttall also said.
The asset manager’s opinion reflects an overall bullish sentiment on the market, as noted by Barron’s in a report from earlier this week, which saw a growing number of traders betting that U.S. crude could hit $100 a barrel.
The report quoted an RBC Capital Markets analyst as saying, “We have yet to encounter a market bear this year, whether on the commodity side, equity investor or with corporate clients.”
“Over the past week, open interest for June 2022 WTI $100 calls has increased by 10%,” Michael Tran also wrote. “Since September, open interest between $105-$150 per barrel strike prices have increased 14 times.”
Goldman Sachs last month also reiterated its bullish stance on oil, with the bank’s head of energy research Damien Courvalin telling media that “We’ve already had record high demand before this newest variant, and you’re adding higher jet demand and the global economy is still growing. You see how we will average a new record high in demand in 2022, and again, in 2023.”
The most bullish factor for prices, however, at least according to Ninepoint Partners’ Nuttall, is the fact that OPEC is running out of spare capacity.
“The exhaustion of OPEC’s spare capacity – so, as they bring on all that spare curtailed volume – is going to be the most bullish, watershed event in this industry in many, many decades.”