Chronology of world oil market events

Oil prices dipped on Apri 26 on expectations that producer club OPEC will soon raise output to make up for a decline in exports from Iran following a hardening of sanctions on Tehran by the United States.

In January of this year, the world oil market was in rough balance. The annual growth of world oil demand was essentially equal to the growth of world oil supply. Today, world oil supply exceeds demand by about one million barrels per day (about 1 percent of the world oil market). The accumulated imbalance during 2018 has grown world oil stocks and has now led to a sharp decline in prices.

Qatar is to leave OPEC next month in order for the Gulf state to focus on gas production, Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi announced on Monday.

Russia shipped record volumes of crude oil to China in October as independent refiners continued to fill import quotas, while Iranian oil shipments fell on uncertainty over Washington's imposition of sanctions on Tehran, data showed on Nov. 26.

Oil prices fell on Nov. 5 as the start of U.S. sanctions against Iran's fuel exports was softened by waivers that will allow major buyers to still import Iranian crude, while Tehran said it would ignore Washington and continue to sell.

Venezuelan consumer prices rose 488,865 percent in the 12 months ending in September, a member of the opposition-run congress reported on Oct. 8, as the OPEC nation's hyperinflation continues to accelerate amid a broader economic collapse.

Brent oil soared on Sept. 24 close to $81, reaching the highest level since November 2014 after OPEC and other global producers snubbed pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to dampen prices.

Iran's oil exports could fall by as much as two-thirds by the end of the year because of new U.S. sanctions, putting oil markets under huge strain amid supply outages elsewhere in the world.

BERKELEY HEIGHTS - President Donald Trump lashed out at OPEC with a warning to stop manipulating oil markets and piled pressure on close US allies in an interview that aired on Sunday with a threat to sanction European companies that do business with Iran.

State-owned energy giant Qatar Petroleum on June 3 signed an agreement to buy a 30-percent stake in Exxon Mobil hydrocarbon affiliates in Argentina.