LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st March, 2020) The price of Brent crude will average $33.8 per barrel this year, and will then rise to $45.5 per barrel in 2021 amid recovery of global economy and oil demand, UK-based research agency Oxford Economics said on Monday.
Saudi Arabia is maximizing oil deliveries and will continue this strategy thought the first half of 2021, adding to downward pressure from reduced oil demand, it said.
Earlier in the day, Brent oil futures for delivery in May fell below $22 per barrel for the first time since March 2002.
Oil prices halved since early March due to the expected demand slump after the breakup of the OPEC+ oil output cut deal and amid the coronavirus outbreak. After OPEC+ states failed to agree, Riyadh officially announced an increase in oil shipments in April to 12.3 million barrels per day, 300,000 barrels per day higher than its production capacity, and reportedly started offering its oil to European customers with huge discounts. Weak demand and expected increase in shipments has sent price of Russian crude blend Urals to $16.2 per barrel, lowest in more than two decades.
On Thursday, Norwegian research company Rystad Energy predicted daily global oil demand to fall in 2020 by 4.9 percent year-on-year to 95 million barrels.
