For watchers of the crude markets, it’s been a few perplexing weeks with the price of crude oil falling while the structure of the futures market has switched pretty firmly into backwardation across the curve. The reason why this market structure is so perplexing to many is that backwardation typically indicates that immediate demand is outpacing supply since the market bids up barrels in the prompt month to satisfy demand. However, the declining price suggests supply surpassing demand, which is the opposite of what structure suggests. This unusual market environment rarely occurs, but it is