Brent has hovered between $60 and $70 per barrel in recent weeks. Strategists at Capital Economics forecast a peak in prices in Q3, before they start to fall in Q4 and into 2022.
Easing of restrictions to lead to a release of pent-up demand for travel
“We still expect a release of ‘pent-up’ demand for oil later this year as the rollout of vaccines paves the way for travel and leisure activities to resume. At the same time, oil supply is likely to remain somewhat constrained in the near term. As a result, we forecast that oil prices will peak in the third quarter of this year before falling thereafter as supply, particularly from OPEC+, continues to rebound.”
“Our current forecast is that the price of Brent (WTI) will peak at around $75 ($72) per barrel in Q3 this year.”
“We expect oil prices to fall back in Q4 and into next year. Our end-year forecasts for Brent (WTI) are $70 ($67) per barrel for 2021, $60 ($57) for 2022 and $55 ($52) for 2023.”