Positive Oil Price Research Articles

Oil Price Uncertainty and Consumer Sentiment in Advanced Economies

How does oil price uncertainty affect consumer sentiment in advanced economies? Is the response of consumer sentiment to exogenous positive and negative oil price shocks symmetric or asymmetric? Motivated to answer these questions, this paper provides a comprehensive examination of the effects of real oil price shocks on consumer sentiment in the G7 economies in the context of two classes of empirical models. With the application of a bivariate structural GARCH-in-Mean VAR model we find that (in general) oil price uncertainty has a negative and statistically significant effect on consumer sentiment in the G7 countries. Moreover, using a test of symmetry, we find that the relationship between oil prices and consumer sentiment is in general asymmetric. JEL Classification: C32, D12, Q43, O57

Are All Shocks Alike? Evidence From the Effects of Oil Shocks on Military Expenditure in Nigeria

This study investigated the asymmetric effects of oil shocks–oil price, oil demand and oil supply shocks–on military expenditure in Nigeria. Our study confirmed the presence of short-run and long-run asymmetries in all the three models used. Generally, positive oil price and demand shocks positively influence military expenditure and vice versa for negative shocks. However, a positive oil supply shock is detrimental to military expenditure.

How do households cope during aggregate shocks? Evidence from the 2009–2015 oil crisis in Nigeria

The effect of global oil price fluctuations on households' costs of living in Nigeria is examined. We extend the Aggregate Demand/Supply (AD/AS) model by incorporating aggregate shock and idiosyncratic risk with cross-sectional heterogeneity in households' distributions and consumption substitution dynamics. Results from our model show that while positive oil prices reflect higher output, whether growth results from inflation or income-level growth remains unclear ―demand-side inflation will raise price levels, amplify budget constraints and ultimately lower welfare. For the empirical analysis, we use oil prices between 2009 and 2015 and micro-level data from the Nigerian General Household Survey (GHS) collected between 2010 and 2016 in Nigeria. In support, we show that increasing oil prices leads to greater consumption. However, the effect varies heterogeneously ―reflecting households' location and consumption substitution dynamics, adjustments in household size, and labor supply are some coping responses to oil price changes.

Geopolitical risk, supply chains, and global inflation

AbstractThis paper investigates the effects of global geopolitical risks and global supply chain pressures on global inflation for the monthly period of 1999M1–2022M12. The investigation is based on a structural vector autoregression model, where the effects of global oil prices and global monetary policy are controlled for. Four alternative measures of inflation are used, including headline, core, food, and energy inflation. The empirical results show that disruptions in global supply chains are the main drivers of global inflation in the long run as the corresponding shocks explain the lion's share of volatilities in headline inflation (by 32%), core inflation (by 30%), and food inflation (by 22%), followed by oil price shocks and policy rate shocks. In comparison, energy inflation is explained the most by oil price shocks (by 55%) followed by supply chain shocks and policy rate shocks. Positive supply chain pressure and oil price shocks have positive and statistically significant effects on headline inflation even after five years, whereas positive policy rate shocks have negative and statistically significant effects on headline inflation in the long run. In contrast, positive shocks to geopolitical risk result in higher headline inflation only up to one year, with insignificant effects in the long run. Several policy implications follow.

Oil Price Fluctuation and their Impact on the Macroeconomic Variables: The Case of Kuwait

The fluctuations in the international prices of crude oil have been a major concern for many economies who depend mainly on oil exports. Oil price shocks are a major disturbance for the economies of oil producing countries. This study investigates the impact of oil price shocks on selected macroeconomic variables in Kuwait using secondary data covering the period of 2001 to 2022. The study adopted the Vector autoregression (VAR) method to analyze the response of Kuwait macroeconomic variables to shocks in oil prices. Oil price in the study is considered in 2 categories: the linear oil price and the non-linear oil price (positive and negative changes in oil price). Based on the findings, it is observed that oil price shocks significantly impact macroeconomic variables in Kuwait. It is found that positive changes in oil prices have a more positive and significant impact on the macroeconomic variables compared to the negative changes in oil price. It is however concluded that there is a need for more policy developments to better harness periods of positive oil price experiences, and develop hedging risk framework for periods of negative changes in oil price in order to curb the impact of oil price shocks on Kuwait’s macroeconomy.

Oil price uncertainty and excess value of diversification

PurposeThis study examines the value implications of oil price uncertainty for investors in diversified firms using a sample of 922 USA firms from 2001 to 2019.Design/methodology/approachOur study employs a panel dataset to examine the value implications of oil price uncertainty for diversified firm investors. We consider several alternative specifications to account for unobserved factors and measurement errors that could potentially bias our results. In particular, we use alternative measures of the excess value of diversified firms and oil price uncertainty, additional control variables, fixed-effects models, the Oster test, impact threshold for confounding variable (ITCV) analysis, two-stage least square instrumental variable (2SLS-IV) analysis and the system-GMM model.FindingsWe find that the excess value of diversified firms, relative to a benchmark portfolio of single-segment firms, increases with high oil price uncertainty. The impact of oil price uncertainty is asymmetric, as corporate diversification is value-increasing for diversified firm investors only when the volatility is due to positive oil price changes and amidst supply-driven oil price shocks. The excess value increases irrespective of diversified firms’ financial constraints and oil usage. Diversified firms become conservative in their internal capital allocations with high oil price uncertainty. Such conservatism is value-increasing for diversified firm investors, as it supports higher performance in response to oil price uncertainty.Originality/valueOur study has three important implications: first, they are relevant to investors in understanding the portfolio value implications of oil price uncertainty. Second, they are helpful for firm managers while comprehending the value-relevant implications of internal capital allocations. Finally, our findings are policy relevant in the context of the future of diversified firms in developed markets.

The Asymmetric Relationship between Conventional/Shale Rig Counts and WTI Oil Prices

This work analyses the asymmetric response of conventional and shale oil rig counts to WTI oil price returns. Our analysis shows that the rig count time series exhibited a structural change after the oil glut of 2014. All series are non-stationary in each sub-period but not cointegrated. Therefore, after controlling for possible confounding factors, a vector auto regressive (VAR) model is set up. Our specification accounts for the possible role of oil production and distinguishes between positive and negative oil price changes. It is shown that shale and conventional rig counts reacted differently in each subperiod to signed changes in oil price. Subsequently, by evaluating the response of rig counts to oil price shocks, their intensity and duration over time, we observe that the shale oil rig count reacts more intensively to positive than to negative oil price changes. On the contrary, the conventional rig count exhibits a modest reaction only to positive price changes. Finally, we robustify our findings by focusing on the data of the Permian basin, on the one hand, and the Anadarko, Bakken, Eagle Ford and Niobrara, on the other hand, which are characterized by different patterns in the number of Drilled but not Completed wells.

Oil price shocks pass‐through to domestic prices in Nigeria

AbstractThe study investigated the potential non‐linear impacts of fluctuations in oil prices on domestic prices in Nigeria. Utilising the non‐linear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model, the study revealed the presence of asymmetry in the behaviour of domestic prices. Both forms of oil price shocks were observed to have a negative influence on domestic prices in the short term, with only positive oil price shocks demonstrating statistical significance. However, in the long run, a distinct pattern emerged where a decrease in oil prices significantly affected domestic prices. Additionally, analysis of VAR impulse response showed a consistently negative reaction of domestic prices to oil price shocks, falling below the steady‐state equilibrium. The study concluded that changes in oil prices, in conjunction with other macroeconomic variables, affected the prices of domestic goods in Nigeria, whether in the short or long term. This underscored the complexity of Nigeria's economic landscape. Consequently, it is advisable to prudently invest excess revenue generated from rising oil prices to mitigate the adverse impacts of negative oil shocks on the economy.

Re-examining the Impact of Oil Price Uncertainty on Sovereign CDS Spread of GCC Countries: Accounting for the Asymmetry and Outliers

We examine the effect of oil price uncertainty on sovereign credit risks in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Unlike past studies, we employ a structural vector autoregression with multivariate GARCH-in-mean (VAR-GARCH-in-mean) approach after filtering out outliers in the observed series. The findings show that uncertainty in the oil market has a positive impact on the sovereign Credit Default Swap (CDS) spreads of the GCC countries. Furthermore, we find that GCC sovereign CDS spreads react asymmetrically to positive and negative oil price shocks.

Oil price uncertainty and corporate inefficient investment: Evidence from China

Motivated by the substantial influence of oil price uncertainty (OPU) on corporate investment and the importance of corporate investment efficiency, this study focuses on the impact of OPU on corporate inefficient investment. Using a sample of Chinese listed firms from 2007 to 2019, we find that OPU negatively affects inefficient investment. This negative effect is consistent in the over-investment and under-investment sub-sample. Our findings are consistent with the real options theory and the strategic growth option theory. We also find that a shortening debt maturity structure is one of the underlying mechanisms through which OPU reduces inefficient investment. In addition, heterogeneity analysis indicates that the negative effects of OPU on inefficient investment are more pronounced in state-owned firms, firms with higher financing constraints, and firms with lower ownership concentration. Furthermore, we find that OPU emanating from positive oil price changes has a stronger negative impact on inefficient investment. This study comprehensively investigates the relationship between OPU and corporate inefficient investment from perspectives of over-investment and under-investment, and it enriches macro perspective evidence for the determinants of corporate inefficient investment.

Energy price shocks and current account balances: Evidence from emerging market and developing economies

This paper investigates the effects of real energy price shocks on current account balances of 45 emerging market and developing economies. The investigation is based on country-specific structural vector autoregression models, where alternative specifications and identification schemes are considered for robustness purposes. The empirical results suggest that 1 % of a positive real oil price shock results in up to 0.11 (0.08) percentage points of a cumulative improvement (deterioration) in current account balances of oil exporters (importers) after five years, whereas 1 % of a positive real natural gas price shock results in up to 0.06 (0.04) percentage points of a cumulative improvement (deterioration) in current account balances of natural gas exporters (importers) after five years. Real coal price shocks result in higher current account balances of oil exporters and natural gas exporters, suggesting substitution of coal with oil and natural gas in such cases. When contributions of alternative real energy prices to the variance of current account balances are compared, real oil price shocks dominate those of real natural gas and real coal prices. The empirical results investigating the effects of oil demand versus oil supply shocks on current account balances suggest that oil demand shocks (rather than oil supply shocks) result in similar reactions of current account balances to real oil price shocks, supporting the view that the effects of oil demand shocks are different from those of oil supply shocks. The results are robust to the consideration of country-specific changes in real GDP and real effective exchange rates.

Asymmetric effects of oil price shocks on EUR/USD exchange rate and structural shock decomposition in a BVAR model with sign restriction

We use a VAR model with two exogenous and eight endogenous variables to evaluate the asymmetric effect of oil price changes on the EUR/USD exchange rate. The parameters are estimated with the Bayesian technique using the U.S. and the Eurozone quarterly data from 2001 to 2021. The sign restriction methodology is employed to obtain the VAR model’s structural form from its reduced form. The suggested metrics show highly time-variant oil price effects on the EUR/USD exchange rate. Oil price variability accounts for about half of the exogenous variables shocks that account for about one-third of the deterministic part of the model, which explains about two-thirds of the EUR/USD exchange rate volatility. The structural shock and historical variance decomposition identify significant time-dependent endogenous variables shocks behind the EUR/USD exchange rate variability. The impulse–response function shows asymmetric direct and indirect effects of oil shocks on the EUR/USD exchange rate, whose reaction to a positive oil price shock is more intensive, less smooth, and takes longer than in a negative shock. The dollar appreciates within three quarters after oil price increases, which suggests the United States has a specific comparative advantage compared with the Eurozone in offsetting the effects of the oil shocks.

Oil price uncertainty and corporate inventory investment

PurposeThis study examines the relationship between oil price uncertainty (OPU) and corporate inventory investments using a sample of 6,072 USA manufacturing firms from 1992 to 2019.Design/methodology/approachThe author's study employs a panel dataset to examine the relationship between OPU and corporate inventory investments. The author uses several alternative specifications such as fixed effects models, an instrumental variable analysis, an impact threshold for confounding variable (ITCV) analysis, alternative measures, additional control variables and the percent bias analysis to account for endogeneity issues.FindingsCorporate inventory investments decrease in response to high OPU. This decrease in inventory investments happens regardless of firms' expected stockout costs, information environment and reliance on external financing. As a potential mechanism, an uncertainty-induced increase in cash holdings contributes to this reduction in inventory investments. Also, the effect of OPU is non-linear and asymmetric. In response to the volatility of positive (negative) oil price changes, inventory investments decrease (increase) up to a certain point and increase (decrease) after that. Further, uncertainty-induced adjustments in inventory investments positively influence the operating performance of firms.Originality/valueThe author's study adds to the growing literature that examines the impact of OPU on corporate outcomes. Inventory investments directly affect business operations and could better reflect firms' responses to an uncertain environment.

‘One sows, another reaps’: Analysing the asymmetric impact of remittance inflows on the trade balance in a large emerging economy

Remittances are regarded as an important source of foreign exchange for the majority of low and middle-income countries, and thus have the potential to impact their aggregate economic activities. The current study investigates the impact of remittance inflows and international oil prices on India's trade balance from 1975 to 2020. We use a non-linear autoregressive and distributed lag model to examine the asymmetric impact of remittance and oil price changes on trade balance. The study discovered that rising remittance inflows have a detrimental long-run impact on the trade balance. It also demonstrates that while a positive oil price shock worsens the trade balance, a negative oil price shock improves it in the long run. As a result, the paper emphasises the need to reduce skilled migration, properly channel remittance revenues, develop financial institutions, and implement more efficient exchange rate policies in order to achieve long-term trade surpluses.

Revisiting the oil prices–domestic food inflation nexus in Nigeria: the role of global geopolitical risk

PurposeThis study examines the influence of the global geopolitical risk (GPR) on the relationship between oil prices and domestic food prices under the augmented Phillips curve framework.Design/methodology/approachUsing monthly data on Nigeria from January 1995 to December 2021, the authors accommodate symmetry and asymmetry by adopting the linear and nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag, linear and nonlinear Granger causality tests.FindingsThe study establishes the positive and significant effects of both oil prices and GPR on food prices in the long and short run, though with a small magnitude in the short run. The asymmetric model shows that, while oil price shocks (positive and negative) exert a positive influence on food prices in the long-run, the effects of oil price shocks differ when accounting for GPR in the short-run. The coefficients of the interactive term, being the moderator of GPR between oil-food prices, are positively significant across models, suggesting that they jointly influence food prices when assuming linearity. The nonlinear model shows that the positive and negative components of interactive terms exert a positively significant influence on food prices, even though food prices tend to be more reactive to positive oil price shocks. The robustness checks show a unidirectional causal flow from oil prices and GPR to food prices under the linear and nonlinear models.Originality/valueThe authors examine the moderating effect of the newly developed global GPR index of Caldara and Iacoviello (2022) on the oil–food inflation relationship in Nigeria by applying the symmetric and asymmetric approaches.

Has the Asymmetric Effect of Oil Price Change in Inflation Expectations Been Impacted by the COVID-19 Outbreak? A Comparison Between the United States and China

Economists and policymakers believe that households’ and firms’ expectations of future inflation are key determinants of actual inflation. This paper applies the ARDL model and nonlinear ARDL model to long-term inflation-targeting policy mechanisms in the United States and China to assess the impact of oil price dynamics and asymmetries on inflation expectations, as well as the difference of this impact before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to show the significant role of the COVID-19 outbreak, this paper includes the data from 2010 to 2021 and takes the pandemic period as a structural break. Taking oil price changes as a variable of interest, and introducing some other significant variables, we find that during the pandemic, the positive impact of oil price shock on U.S. inflation expectations has enhanced, whereas the positive impact on Chinese inflation expectations has weakened. There is also sufficient evidence of the existence of the asymmetric effects of oil price changes on inflation expectations in both countries, but the positive oil price change in the United States has always played a larger role than the negative oil price shock. In China, the impact of positive oil price shock was greater than that of negative oil prices before the epidemic and the effect of negative oil price shocks has increased significantly in the COVID-19 regime.

Impact of Oil and Agricultural Shocks on the Financial Markets of Emerging Market Economies

We assess oil and agricultural price shocks in the financial markets of six EMEs (Brazil, Chile, Mexico, India, South Africa, and Turkey) using the GVAR. Positive oil price shocks provoke falls in all stock markets, devaluations in four domestic currencies, and tight monetary policies in two economies. The variance decomposition indicated that this shock is more influential in the stock markets, followed by the exchange rates. Compared to the oil price, shocks in agricultural prices caused appreciations in all domestic currencies. This shock is pervasive in all exchange markets in the first months, losing importance over time. The distinct responses to different commodities shocks point out that the kind of shock is relevant to comprehend its influence on EMEs. We detected relevant heterogeneities concerning the spreading of commodities shocks on domestic financial markets, especially in South Africa.

Asymmetric Pass-through Effects of Oil Price Shocks and Exchange Rates on Inflation in Nigeria: Evidence from a Nonlinear ARDL Model

This paper employs the linear autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model, the asymmetric nonlinear ARDL (NARDL) model developed by Shin, et al (2014) to examine the asymmetric effect of oil price and exchange rates pass-through on inflation in Nigeria over a period of 1970 to 2020. The result of the asymmetric test revealed the existence of asymmetries among the variables of the study, suggesting that there is a nonlinear interaction among the variables used in the study. This validates the choice of a non-linear ARDL model for the study. Results of the long-run estimates show that rising (Positive) oil price shocks have a greater impact on inflation than falling (negative) oil price shocks. Furthermore, it is evident from the result that the depreciation of the exchange rate has a much and significant effect on inflation than the appreciation of the exchange rate in Nigeria. However, a rising interest rate increases inflation by 0.84 per cent while a falling interest rate increases inflation by 0.85 per cent. This implies that the effect of negative interest rate on inflation is higher than its positive effect on inflation, though, by a smaller amount of about 0.01 per cent. Again, the short-run dynamic model revealed a high speed of convergence of more than 90% from the short-run disequilibrium. During the study period, the oil price fluctuations showed a significant and incomplete pass-through to both exchange rates and inflation in Nigeria. Moreover, the results suggest that positive oil price changes have a larger impact than the negative ones, that the effect of an oil price shock on inflation and exchange rates is larger in the long-run than in the short-run, and that there is incomplete pass-through effect of oil price on domestic inflation and exchange rates. Based on the findings, the study recommends policies that set oil prices and exchange rates within reasonable limits to check inflation in Nigeria and should diversify its economy as well as withdraw the current subsidy regime completely.

Response of fiscal efforts to oil price dynamics

This study investigates the response of Nigeria's government balance to oil price dynamics. The Linear and Non-Linear Autoregressive Distributed Lag models are employed for analysis. The findings of the study reveal that while the long run response of government balance to oil price dynamics is symmetric, the short run response is asymmetric. In the long run, an increase in oil price improves the government's fiscal position, signifying an increase in fiscal effort. Interestingly, while positive oil price shocks lead to a short run worsening of the government's fiscal position, indicating poor fiscal efforts, negative oil price shocks influence an improvement of government fiscal efforts. Further, although the operationalisation of fiscal rules worsens the government's fiscal position in the short run, it has a beneficial long run effect. These findings have far-reaching policy implications.

Asymetric Pass-through Effects of Oil Price Shocks and Exchange Rates on Inflation in Nigeria: Evidence from a Nonlinear ARDL Model

By utilizing the non-linear ARDL (NARDL) model developed by Shin, et al (2014), we examined the asymmetric effect of oil price and exchange rates pass-through on inflation in Nigeria over a period of 1970 to 2020. Result of asymmetric test revealed the existence of asymmetries among the variables of the study, suggesting that there is a nonlinear interaction among the variables used in the study. This validates the choice of non-linear ARDL model for the study. Result of the long-run estimates show that rising (Positive) oil price shocks have a greater impact on inflation than falling (negative) oil price shock. Furthermore, ot is evident form the result that depreciation of exchange rate has much and significant effect on inflation than the appreciation of exchange rate in Nigeria. However, rising interest rate increases inflation by 0.84 per cent while falling interest rate increases inflation by 0.85 per cent. This implies that the effect of negative interest rate on inflation is higher than its positive effect on inflation, though, by a smaller amount of about 0.01 per cent. Again, the short-run dynamic model revealed a high speed of convergence of more than 90% from the short run disequilibrium. During the study period, the oil price fluctuations showed a significant and incomplete pass-through to both exchange rates and inflation in Nigeria. Based on the findings, the study recommends policies that set oil prices and exchange rate within reasonable limits in order to chack inflation in Nigeria.