Pessimism is pervasive in the oil patch these days. Analysts are slashing their oil price forecasts, with many making dire predictions. Driving this downbeat attitude is the fact that, despite OPEC’s efforts to drain the market’s supply, oil inventories remain well above their five-year average. The culprit has been a combination of weaker demand growth and higher production from U.S. shale producers as well as Libya and Nigeria, which are exempt from OPEC’s output reduction efforts.