EIA lowers forecast for oil prices
By Trend
Average price for Brent oil will be $41.6 per barrel in 2016 and $51.58 per barrel in 2017, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) forecasts in the Short-term Energy Outlook August 2016.
In its Short-term Energy Outlook July 2016, EIA forecast the Brent crude oil price at $43.73 and $52.15 per barrel in 2016 and 2017, respectively.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil prices are forecast at $41.16 per barrel in 2016 and $51.58 per barrel in 2017, according to the EIA.
In its Short-term Energy Outlook July 2016, the EIA forecast the WTI at $43.57 and $52.15 per barrel in 2016 and 2017, respectively.
The prices for Brent and WTI stood at $52.32 per barrel and $48.67 per barrel, respectively, in 2015, said the EIA.
EIA noted that significant outages in global oil supply contributed to rising oil prices during the second quarter of 2016. However, concerns about future economic growth related to the United Kingdom's June 23 vote to exit the EU and the easing of supply disruptions in Canada contributed to falling oil prices in late June.
Prices continued to fall in July because of concerns about high levels of U.S. and global petroleum product inventories, despite relatively strong demand and because of growing U.S. oil rig counts, according to EIA.
“The current values of futures and options contracts highlight the heightened volatility and high uncertainty in the oil price outlook,” EIA said.
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