Supply-demand balance expected to tighten in second half of 2018. The OPEC and NOPEC agreement to keep current production restraints in place through 2018 will contribute to an oil price increase in the second half of next year, according to Wood Mackenzie. “The stakes were high for OPEC,” Ann-Louise Hittle, Wood Mackenzie vice president of oils research, said in a statement sent to Rigzone. “Despite the success in cutting output and follow-on price recovery, if the agreement had ended in March 2018, our forecast shows there would have been a very large 2.4 million barrels per day year-on-year increase in total world oil supply for 2018,” she added. “That would have led to a persistent oversupply for every quarter of 2018,” Hittle continued. With the extension in place, Wood Mackenzie expects the supply and demand balance to tighten in the second half of next year, which will help lift […]