The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that the dominating theme in crude oil markets is that there is no clear view of the path ahead. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe reports that in what is probably an ironic outcome, prices are likely to remain locked in the same narrow band that has prevailed for much of this year as market participants wait for some of the fog to lift. There was no clear consensus on how the various influences would play out when the oil industry held its annual gathering this week in Asia. "Uncertainty" was the key word used at the APPEC event hosted by S&P Global Commodity Insights in Singapore, with one speaker going as far as to describe the current market situation as chaotic. The OPEC+ output cuts have distorted the physical markets insofar as they have lowered the availability of sour grades, resulting in many refiners running suboptimal slates of crude and producing too much naphtha and gasoline and not enough diesel and jet fuel. A longer-term concern is the switch to electrifying the vehicle fleet, especially in China. This is likely to result in Chinese refiners producing way more gasoline than needed in the domestic market, potentially leading to higher exports.