How much longer before the world’s crude inventory storage tanks fill to maximum capacity?

It’s become the dominant question in the oil market after the combination of a global economic paralysis and Saudi-Russia price war resulted in a staggering oversupply.

Talk of a potential deal among the world’s major oil producers to cut supply by historic proportions caused crude futures to skyrocket this week.

The development began Thursday with a tweet by President Trump raising expectations that OPEC and Russia could strike a deal that would lift oil prices after recording a 65% decline in the first quarter.

Global crude inventories have begun to show significant increases caused by an unprecedented drop in oil demand, an outcome of the ongoing economic paralysis.

With Saudi Arabia vowing to supply record-high volumes starting next week, the trend of inventory builds looks set to continue.

How much more room even exists until storage reaches maximum capacity?

This week’s oil price crash was historic in scale, with Monday’s price decline ranking as the second-largest ever in percentage terms.

The catalyst came Friday when talks in Vienna between OPEC and Russia failed to deliver a new round of supply cuts.

For three years, this coalition representing 40% of the world’s oil had coordinated to hold supply off the market.

It’s the biggest week on the social calendar for folks in the oil industry.

In late February, London hosts a week of conferences and cocktail parties, drawing thousands from around the world.

But far fewer made the journey this year, as the coronavirus outbreak forced many to stay home instead.

Oil prices rebounded this week after being pummeled for the last month by economic concerns stemming from the spread of the coronavirus.

Those fears remain in place, but oil traders saw some positive headlines elsewhere.

The outbreak of the coronavirus has dealt a severe blow to oil demand causing prices to plummet the last few weeks, with benchmark Brent crude down nearly 20% year-to-date.

The presumption is that crude inventories will rise as refineries cut runs, first in China and possibly elsewhere if the virus cannot be controlled.

Our latest data shows some examples of rising inventories in China, while overall, storage levels can be described as medium-full.

For the first few weeks of 2020, the focus in the oil market has been on geopolitics in the Middle East and concerns about the coronavirus outbreak.

Both stories have major implications for oil supply and demand, respectively.

The headlines have moved prices for oil futures, but the actual impact on the physical market has so far been limited.

Let’s focus, instead, on a story in the physical market involving the movement of molecules.

The latest pipeline being built to carry crude oil from West Texas to the US Gulf Coast is almost complete, marking another step towards the US becoming a major oil exporter.

The Gray Oak pipeline, with a capacity of 900,000 barrels per day (bpd), has begun to fill with crude and should begin service in November with full service expected to begin early 2020, according to Phillips 66, which owns 42% of the project.

“With the complexity of the