If the oil market has felt unusually quiet in recent weeks and months, that probably reflects the almost complete lack of sharp daily price movements. While prices have soared by more than 40 percent since the middle of 2017, day-to-day volatility has fallen to its lowest level since 2014, with a relatively smooth and orderly upward adjustment in prices. Short-term volatility has been trending downwards since early 2016 and in January fell to its lowest since August 2014 ( tmsnrt.rs/2FFcbQp ). The 20-day standard deviation of daily price moves expressed at an annualized rate — one common measure of volatility — dropped to only […]