Baku, Azerbaijan, June 8
By Aygun Badalova - Trend:
Brent oil prices will average $43 a barrel in 2016 and $52 a barrel in 2017, according to the forecasts of the US US Energy Information Administration (EIA), published in its Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO).
These figures are $3 a barrel and $1 a barrel higher than forecast in last month's STEO, respectively.
WTI oil prices are forecast to be slightly lower than Brent in 2016 and to be the same as Brent in 2017.
EIA's estimates show that Brent oil spot prices averaged $47 a barrel in May, a $5 a barrel increase from April and the fourth consecutive monthly increase since reaching a 12-year low of $31 a barrel in January. Growing global oil supply disruptions, rising oil demand, and falling U.S. crude oil production contributed to the price increase, EIA said.
US oil production is forecast to average 8.6 million barrels per day in 2016 and 8.2 million barrels per day in 2017. In 2015, US oil production averaged 9.4 million barrels per day, according to the EIA's estimates.
EIA estimates that thee country's oil production for May 2016 averaged 8.7 million barrels per day, which is more than 0.2 million barrels per day below the April 2016 level, and approximately one million barrels per day below the 9.7 million barrels per day level reached in April 2015.