The United Arab Emirates’s economy minister joined forecasters looking for $60 crude this year with demand and production moving more in line.
“It’s possible for oil prices to reach $60 or more during this summer” as demand increases in the U.S., U.A.E. Economy Minister Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansoori said at a conference in Abu Dhabi on Monday. Crude will end the year higher than $60 a barrel, Mario Maratheftis, global chief economist at Standard Chartered Plc, said on Bloomberg TV. SEB Bank forecast last week that Brent would touch $60 at times in 2016.
Oil futures jumped 31 percent this year, climbing above $50 a barrel last week, as U.S. crude stockpiles declined, trimming a glut. Robust demand in India and other emerging nations led the International Energy Agency in May to reduce its estimate of the global oil surplus for the first half. Brent last traded above $60 in July.
“We’ve always been incredibly bullish on oil,” Maratheftis said. “We expected supply to collapse. Demand is still very strong. I would expect oil prices to keep rising.”
Brent for July settlement fell 0.3 percent to $49.15 a barrel by 2:25 p.m. in Dubai, after trading at $50.51 last Thursday.
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