China's oil demand is a 'disappointment.' Could stimulus help?
Chinese officials have rolled out a series of stimulus measures in an effort to boost the country's struggling economy. Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates, joins Market Domination to discuss how it could impact the oil market (BZ=F, CL=F). "What we've seen out of China this year is a great disappointment on oil demand growth. In fact, as they put more electric vehicle cars on the road as well as trucks that are using CNG (compressed natural gas) rather than diesel fuel, that has certainly dampened demand this year and really added a lot to the downside pressure on oil prices," Lipow explains. He believes that the economic stimulus measures could help stabilize oil demand. However, he notes that the country has recently had low refinery runs given the capacity they have added over the past few years. Overall, Lipow tells Yahoo Finance, "the oil market remains oversupplied," pointing to OPEC+ having spare capacity and extending its oil production cuts into 2025. "I think we might see a modest increase in oil prices to the upside. WTI (MCL=F) right now is about $68. You know, perhaps by the end of the year we inch on closer to $73 to $75 per barrel, which is a significant revision downwards in my forecast given the supply-demand dynamics that we're seeing today," he concludes. For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Market Domination. This post was written by Melanie Riehl
