Prices won’t break out of the $40 to $50 range until consumption gets back to normal sometime next year.
When will oil sustainably break out of the “Virus Alley”—that $40 to $50 band that has held oil prices in check for months? That’s Question No. 1 going into 2021 for an oil industry that has dramatically retrenched and investors who have abandoned the sector because of a lack of returns. It will also determine when U.S. shale recovers from its pandemic malaise and resumes growth.