Here’s Where Forecasters Think Oil Is Heading
The price of oil has just closed its third consecutive quarter of price declines, and experts diverge on where it’s headed next.
Major banks see WTI, the U.S. oil benchmark, ending the year anywhere between $52 to $84 a barrel. The range for Brent, the global marker, is similarly big – from $55 to $90 a barrel. On Wednesday Brent was trading around $55 a barrel and WTI was around $47 a barrel.
While most forecasters agree that the seeds of the recovery have been sown — the number of U.S. oil drilling rigs has fallen by half since last year while large oil companies have cut capital expenditure by 10%-15% — there is less consensus about the timing and the strength of the recovery.
The case for bears appears to be strongest in the U.S. Oil inventories there are running at their highest in 80 years while production has continued to creep higher despite the falling rig count....MORE
