Total CEO Sees Mideast Producers Desperate to Sell Oil Stocks
(Bloomberg) -- Middle East oil producers are desperate to sell crude stockpiled during the recent Persian Gulf conflict, but gasoline and diesel inventories remain constrained due to shipping worries, TotalEnergies SE Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanné said.
Gasoline and diesel are still trading at levels as if crude oil were at $95 to $100 a barrel, Pouyanné said at the Rencontres Economiques conference in Aix-en-Provence. It will take three to four months for the market to rebalance, he added. Brent crude traded on Friday at around $72 per barrel.
“Middle Eastern producers have built up such large inventories that they are now desperate to sell their oil,” Pouyanné said. “At the same time, there are difficulties getting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz because many shipowners are still unwilling to take the risk. As a result, producers are heavily discounting their crude, and oil prices are collapsing,” he added.
“The consequences of a blockade are ultimately quite complex — some rather unexpected and striking developments are taking place at the moment,” Pouyanné said.
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