Oil to trade in a tight range in 2017, fewer opportunities to “make money”

Oil is expected to stay in a tight range of USD 50-60 per bbl in 2017 as a recovery in US shale output “counterbalances the OPEC supply cut deal to reduce the global glut,” Litasco Chief Executive Tim Bullock told Reuters. He says “it’s difficult to see Brent going much below [USD 50] per barrel and with shale and everything lining up on the other side, it's difficult to see it going much above [USD 60] per barrel.” Bullock adds that “a lack of volatility means trading houses will no longer have the extra boost as in the last two years following the 2014 oil price crash.” He says it became more difficult for traders to “make money” by the end of 2016 as “there was less volatility and less structure … 2017 looks like an extension of that.”