Oil traders see little to justify the past fortnight's slump in oil futures

Whether it's in the North Sea, West Africa or the Persian Gulf, traders of millions of barrels of crude are seeing little to justify the past fortnight’s slump in oil futures.

Crude on exchanges in New York and London fell as much as 7 percent since late April despite the temporary halt of a pipeline delivering millions of barrels a month of Russian oil to Europe’s refiners. The cessation added to a long list of supply disruptions and curtailments elsewhere in the world.

“There is no true sign of weakness in the physical market,” said Olivier Jakob, managing director of consultant Petromatrix