Proactive Investors - Investment bank Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) forecasts the Brent crude price will increase from just above $80 per barrel currently to $86 per barrel by year-end, buoyed by record demand in oil markets.
“We expect pretty sizable deficits in the second half with deficits of almost 2 million barrels per day in the third quarter as demand reaches an all-time high,” Goldman’s head of oil research Daan Struyven said in a recent media interview, as reported by CNBC.
Citing data from Baker Hughes and Haver, Goldman Sachs noted that the US oil rig count recently hit its lowest level in 16 months, down 15% from its late 2022 peak, suggesting the pace of growth for oil output will slow throughout the rest of 2023.
In June, the International Energy Agency (IEA) predicted that global oil demand is on track to rise by 2.4 million barrels per day in 2023, surpassing the previous year’s 2.3 million barrels per day increase.
And more recently, secretary general of the International Energy Forum Joseph McMonigle stated that he expects both India and China will make up two million barrels a day of demand pick-up in the second half of 2023.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures climbed 2.4% to US$78.88 on Monday, while Brent crude rose 1.9% to US$81.67.