Crude Oil Prices are expected to average US$73 per barrel in the second half of 2018 then fall to US$69 per barrel in 2019, forecast from the Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors have shown.
According to the forecast, WTI crude oil prices would average US$7 per barrel lower than Brent prices in the second half of 2018 and same in 2019.
The forecasts also show a growth in global oil demand by 1.4million barrel per day in 2018 and by the same amount in 2019.
Crude oil price movement
The average Brent and WTI crude oil price started the year at US$69.08 per barrel and US$63.7 per barrel in January respectively.
Crude oil prices for the month of August averaged at US$71.07 per barrel and US$67.35 per barrel for Brent and WTI respectively, marking a 4 percent and 5 percent month-on-month decrease.
The average Brent and WTI crude oil price increased by approximately 39 percent and 35 percent year-on-year for the month of August respectively.
The average Brent and WTI crude oil price respectively increased by 3 percent and 6 percent year-to-date in the month of August.
FOB Prices
In the July 2018 update of EIA’s Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), it forecasts that Brent.
The year-to-date average prices of gasoline and gasoil stood at US$680.56 per metric tonne and US$627.89 per metric tonne respectively representing a 27 percent and 37 percent increase in both gasoline and gasoil prices relative to the same period last year.
The International Market Price (IMP) began the first window of 2018 at US$600.11 per metric tonne and US$568.72 per metric tonne for gasoline and gasoil, respectively.
Prices hit the US$700 per metric tonne mark in the month of May. This was as a result of geopolitical shifts including President Donald Trump’s announcement of the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and subsequent sanction of Iran as well as missiles targeted towards Saudi Aramco’s energy facilities by Yemen’s Houthis.
The year-to-date average inter window (first and second half of every month) stood at 1 percent for both gasoline and gasoil.
Source: Reuters
