Bank of America raised its forecast for the price of Brent crude by 14 dollars to 96 dollars per barrel for the last quarter of this year, attributing the recent rise in prices to a combination of increased refining margins and significant production cuts from Saudi Arabia and Russia.
“With OPEC plus committed to curbing oil supplies until the end of the year and Chinese stimulus poised to expand in the 23rd quarter, we expect global oil inventories to fall by 70 million over the next three months,”the bank said in a note.
The investment bank now expects the average price of Brent to reach 91 dollars per barrel in the second half of this year, up from 81 dollars previously.
For the current year as a whole, Bank of America raised its average forecast for 2023 to USD 85 per barrel, from USD 80, as it expects a deficit of more than 900 thousand barrels per day in the second half of 2023.
