Why oil may not get the cure it needs: Analyst
An expected drop in crude prices to $30 to $40 a barrel this fall might not be enough to balance global oil markets, IHS Energy's Jamie Webster told CNBC on Monday.
U.S. production needs to fall by as much as 1 million barrels per day (bpd) for the U.S. to balance markets, according to IHS. But such a move would require U.S. crude to trade at or below $45 a barrel for two consecutive quarters, and Webster doesn't see that happening.
"The problem with this is the market, the financial guys, are still quite bullish, and I'm not sure they're going to allow it to go for two full quarters to give us the kind of cure we need in order to balance this market," he told CNBC's "Squawk Box."
Webster made his comments after a CNBC survey found that a majority of analysts and traders now sees oil falling to $30 to $40 a barrel in the near term.
Read More Frackers face big cash crunch this fall: Survey
To be sure, 43 percent of market watchers surveyed by CNBC believe the break-even price for many U.S. shale producers is $45 to $55 per barrel, well below the respondents' view through the end of the year.
Webster said IHS was not surprised by the summer oil-price slide following a rally earlier in the year. Traders had gotten too excited about signs of U.S. production slowdowns at a time when oversupply was still too high, he said.
"We don't need it to slow down. We actually needed to drop production in order to bring us to some sort of balance," he said.
Read More Here's what could take oil down to $30
The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported the country's oil production stood at 9.51 million bpd in May, down from 9.69 million bpd the previous month, but still near all-time highs.
The announcement on Friday that the Commerce Department will allow swaps of U.S. crude for Mexican oil may help to ease the price spread between West Texas Intermediate crude (New York Mercantile Exchange: @CL.1) and the international benchmark Brent (Intercontinental Exchange Europe: @LCO.1), but it will not cure the problem, Webster said.
Read More U.S. approves landmark crude oil export swaps with Mexico
The Obama administration will allow limited sales of U.S. crude to Mexico for the first time, a senior administration official told Reuters, marking another milestone in loosening a contentious ban on exporting domestic oil.
-Reuters contributed to this article.
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