Exxon Mobil Warns of ‘Unprecedented’ Oil Stock Levels

ExxonMobil stated at the Bernstein Conference in New York that global crude oil inventories will drop to historical lows in the next two to three weeks, at which point the spot price of Brent crude is expected to rise to between $150 and $160 per barrel.

The company's Senior Vice President, Neil Chapman, clearly stated at the conference: "We are approaching an unprecedented level of super-low inventory." He anticipates that this critical point will arrive in two to three weeks, when the spot price of Brent crude will climb to between $150 and $160 per barrel.

As of Thursday's closing, the price of the nearest Brent crude future contract for July was below $94 per barrel, with investors still anticipating that negotiations between the United States and Iran could reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

However, data from the International Energy Agency shows that Iran's closure of the strait has resulted in a cumulative loss of over 1 billion barrels of crude oil in the market, marking the largest energy supply disruption in global history. The member countries of the agency agreed in March of this year to release a record 400 million barrels of oil reserves to alleviate the crisis, but industry executives like those from ExxonMobil have made it clear that relying on the consumption of reserves is not sustainable, and that the spot market will face a critical turning point on the supply and demand front in the coming weeks.