> It means that oil companies have (collectively) predicted a much higher future demand growth than realized. That might be an over-extension of the markets-as

> It means that oil companies have (collectively) predicted a much higher future demand growth than realized. That might be an over-extension of the markets-as-preditive-tool view. I am more inclined to see the current prices as a consequence of latencies in the oil markets that prevent it from showing true supply and demand accurately. When prices were high, too many new wells were drilled at once because it takes a long time for the new oil to hit the market and bring prices down. When the new oil hits the market and starts reducing the price, none of the producers can cut back on what they send to market because they have to pay off the loans that they used to drill their wells in the first place. The supply side is structurally unable to respond to demand, regardless of what they predict future demand to be.