Crude oil prices have gone up twenty-seven percent from their Christmas week lows. Many analysts, company representatives, and OPEC officials see them rising further. The 1.2-million-barrels-per-day cut in oil production instituted in January by OPEC members and other countries (OPEC+) has encouraged these views. Investors seem to agree. The share price of my oil-price talisman, the BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust (BPT), has been bid up from $17 at the end of 2018 to $23.80 Monday. The question is, can prices rise further? S&P Global Platts is skeptical. The headline of a report published February 15 read, “Oil market forecasters largely bearish on 2019.” [1] The article began, “The three most closely watched oil market forecasters are all bracing for a significant upsurge in non-OPEC supply growth but differ on the extent that global oil supply will outweigh oil demand.” (Click to enlarge) The reports cited by Platts were […]