OPEC Cuts, U.S. E&Ps Drill: Our Oil Price Outlook Remains Unchanged

In a somewhat surprising development, OPEC members have tentatively agreed to a production target of between 32.5 million and 33.3 million barrels per day, representing a reduction of up to 700 mb/d from current production levels of 33.2 mmb/d. Oil prices rallied on the news, but our view for continued low prices of $50/bbl in 2017 (detailed in our Aug. 26 report) remains unchanged, as we do not believe the potential reduction will have a meaningful sustainable impact on oil prices. While the low end of the target range is nearly 1 mmbd lower than our 2017 forecast for OPEC production, and if realized, it would balance markets and reduce inventories sooner than our original expectations, we see numerous risk factors that we think prevent a sustained recovery in prices until 2018.