On Thursday of last week, OPEC and Russia agreed to make cuts to oil production as a means of firming crude oil prices. At a meeting in Vienna, OPEC and Russian officials decided to deepen existing cuts by a half million barrels per day, through the end of March 2020.
Goldman Sachs has since raised its 2020 oil price forecast for Brent crude, from $55 per barrel, to an average of $63 per barrel. New predictions for West Texas Intermediate have been raised from $50 to $58.50. Many within the US OCTG market have said they would not expect to see a meaningful recovery until WTI tops $55 per barrel.
For now, the market remains stagnant. As with last week, the “official” price range for US domestic J55 ERW OCTG casing is still being heard in the range of $50-$55 cwt. ($1,102-$1,213/mt or $1,000-$1,100/nt) ex-mill, although deals at the service center level are still being heard.