Last week saw an escalation of tensions between Iran and the US as well as the UK. In another time, crude prices would have spiked on the news. This time, crude fell on the week and remains lower over the past 1, 3, 5 and 10-year timeframes.
This story is about weakening demand as the global economy turns down, but it’s also about soaring supply thanks to technological innovation that is not going away. 
The International Energy Agency is revising its demand-growth forecasts as trade tensions and slower Chinese economic growth take a toll. IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said the agency will lower its demand-growth forecast for 2019 to 1.1 million barrels a day from the 1.2 million barrel forecast it made only last month and its original 1.5 million barrel forecast.
Meanwhile, U.S. production isn’t missing a beat. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reiterated in its most recent short-term outlook that the U.S. will become a net exporter of crude some time in the fourth quarter of this year. Average daily production is seen rising to 12.4 million barrels in 2019 from last year’s record 11 million barrels a day. In other words, U.S. supply growth alone will exceed global demand growth.
In other energy innovation news see: Largest ‘building-integrated’ solar cell installation in the country coming to Edmonton Convention Centre.
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