Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 19
By Aygun Badalova - Trend:
Upcoming peak in seasonal refinery maintenance should soften crude markets and exert downward pressure in crude prices in 2Q2015, analysts of the US JP Morgan bank believe.
In a report obtained by Trend analysts said that oil markets continue to press higher, with Brent futures posting a second weekly gain of around $4 per barrel.
"The rally in Brent futures prices continues to surprise us but we retain the view that prices should soften as we approach 2Q2015 with global refinery maintenance exerting pressure on crude demand, which we expect to remain on schedule due to logistical difficulties on changing scheduled downtime," analysts said.
JP Morgan's analysts forecasts Brent price at the level $43 per barrel in 2Q2015.
In 2015 analysts expect average Brent price at $49 per barrel.
During electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange on February 18, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for April delivery decreased by $1.49 to $50.65 a barrel.
April Brent, which is the benchmark price for products in Europe and Asia, decreased by $0.93 to $59.6 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.
JP Morgan forecasts for oil prices, 2015, 2016 (in $/bl)
|
2014 |
2015 IQ |
2015 IIQ |
2015 IIIQ |
2015 IVQ |
2015 |
2016 IQ |
2016 IIQ |
2016 IIIQ |
2016 IVQ |
2016 |
|||
|
Brent |
99.4 |
42.0 |
43.0 |
53.0 |
58.0 |
49.0 |
50.0 |
52.0 |
60.0 |
65.0 |
56.8 |
||
|
WTI |
92.9 |
40.0 |
41.0 |
50.0 |
53.0 |
46.0 |
45.0 |
47.0 |
55.0 |
60.0 |
51.8 |
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Aygun Badalova is Trend Agency's staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @AygunBadalova