The price of Brent crude charged through the key $50 a barrel level this week and pushed higher to around $52.75/bbl in early trade on Thursday morning before sliding back to $49.50/bbl in trade on Friday afternoon. The very fact that oil has recovered to this level, a level not seen since November last year, helped current degree of optimism in the oil sector.
However, away from the headline price movement the fundamentals of the petroleum industry remain mixed, as Credit Suisse’s June 8 Flowing Oil Chartbook highlights.
Oil market events
The main event of the past six months and the most significant for the long-term health of the oil market is Saudi Arabia’s decision to maintain crude production capacity at 12.5 million barrels of...

