The Availability and Price of Petroleum and Petroleum Products Produced in Countries Other Than Iran, June 26, 2012. Summary:

• “The global oil market has loosened since our previous report.
• World oil inventories are estimated to have grown by an average 1.0 million barrels per day (bbl/d) during May and June, a marked contrast to the year-ago period when global inventories were being drawn down following the disruption in supplies from Libya. In addition, the latest available estimates for March and April show significantly higher production and lower consumption, and therefore, much larger inventory additions than had previously been estimated.
• Oil prices and backwardation of the futures curve have declined significantly over the last month, both indicators of a looser market. The average price for Brent in June decreased by $14 per barrel compared with its May average, and it is the lowest price since December 2010. The Brent market has moved into contango for the first time in almost a year with the average 1st — 12th month spread for the five days ending June 22 at -$0.77 per barrel. This marks a significant change from March 1 when the Brent market was backwardated and the five-day average for 1st — 12th month spread peaked at about $8 per barrel.
• Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) production has increased over the past year, especially in Iraq and Libya. Saudi Arabia, which acts as a balancing force in the global oil market, continues to produce at high levels.
• The overall growth in non-OPEC production is led by North America, particularly in the tight oil plays of the United States. While unplanned production outages in non-OPEC countries remain higher than normal, they have declined from the elevated levels of earlier this year.”