Oil glut growing bigger despite Saudi Arabia saying worst is over

London

LISTEN to Saudi Arabia and hear the oil market is rebalancing. Look at the screen, and Brent is indeed holding above US$50 a barrel. But dig deeper into the world of physical oil and bearish signals abound, at least in the European market that helps dictate global prices.

The price difference between Brent crude for delivery in two months and three months - a yardstick telling traders how well supplied the market is - widened to minus 69 US cents on Thursday, the biggest discount since February. Back then, the headline price for the grade was barely above US$35 a barrel.