1.Oil article

Definition of glut = an excessively abundant supply of something.

LONDONUp to 50 oil tankers are waiting to unload cargo in the port of Rotterdam, the highest number since 2009 and another sign that, amid a glut, crude is struggling to find a home.

The unusually high number of ships idling outside of Europe's busiest port comes as onshore tanks around the world brim with crude and products like fuel or jet oil. That has sent buyers and sellers scrambling to find storage, using tankers and evenempty railcars to stash the surplus(Links to an external site.)

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The glut is affecting shipping in other ways, as producers send ships carrying oil and oil products from the Middle East on longer routes to Europe to give their cargoes more time to find buyers. That is bad news for the oil market, adding further pressure on a commodity that has fallen to around $30 from more than $100 a barrel in 2014. Brent crude, the global benchmark, was trading at about $36.50 a barrelon Mondayin London.

There are currently between 40 and 50 tankers anchored in the waters outside Rotterdam, more than twice the usual number, said Sjaak Poppe, spokesman for the Dutch port.

"Storage in the Rotterdam area is nearing its limits," he said.

Crude stocks rose to 55.4 million barrels last week at a network of storage tanks in the Dutch ports of Amsterdam and Rotterdam and Belgium's Antwerp, a hub known as ARA, according to information provider Genscape. That is a 2.6% increase from a week earlier.

Robert Dudley(Links to an external site.)

, chief executive of oil giantBP(Links to an external site.)

PLC, said earlier this month that in the second half of the year, "every storage tank and swimming pool in the world will be filled with oil."

While crude stocks have fallen from a high reached last summer, they are 4.1 million barrels higher than the corresponding week last year, Genscape said.

Stocks of gasoil, a petroleum product used for heating, reached a three-year high earlier this month.

Despite signs that consumers are taking advantage of low prices and using more oil products, analysts say that the world is still producing more than a million barrels of crude oil above demand on any given day.

The glut in Europe is diverting ships to take longer voyages, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Ships coming from the Middle East and India have two options to get to ARAa 15- to 20-day transit through the Suez Canal, or a 30- to 40-day journey around Africa's southernmost point, the Cape of Agulhas.

With onshore storage near its limits and traders needing more time to find a buyer, cargoes are increasingly opting for the longer route.

"This creates a logistical struggle, but there really isn't any urgency to take the shortest route in this market," said Olivier Jakob, director of Swiss-based consultancy Petromatrix.

Question: After reading the article, what happened to the demand curve for oil? Did the demand curve shift inwards, did it shift outwards, or was there no change at all? This question is to test to see if the student understands how the demand curve shifts depending on market conditions.

Group of answer choices

the demand curve will shift outward

there is no change in the demand curve

the demand curve will shift inward

2.This is for the Oil article above.

After reading the article, what happened to the supply curve for oil? Did the supply curve shift inwards, did it shift outwards, or did it was there no change at all? This question is to test to see if the student understands how the supply curve shifts depending on market conditions.

Group of answer choices

the supply curve for oil shifted inwards

there was no change on the supply curve

the supply curve for oil shifted outward

3.This is for the Oil article.

Analyze the article and determine which curve shifted more than the other curve and then draw the scenario using a supply and demand model. Draw the supply curve with a slope of 1. Draw the demand curve with a slope of -1.

Per the article, which curve shifted MORE compared to the other curve? Did the demand curve shifted more than the shift in supply or did the supply curve shifted more than the shift in demand? This question is to test to see if the student can identify how market conditions affect both supply and demand curves moving with different magnitude.

Group of answer choices

the supply curve shifted MORE than the shift in the demand curve

the supply curve shifted LESS than the shift in the demand curve