Amid improving market sentiment and a weakening dollar, the World Bank is raising its 2016 forecast for crude oil prices to $41 per barrel from $37 per barrel in its latest Commodity Markets Outlook, as an oversupply in markets is expected to recede.
The crude oil market rebounded from a low of $25 per barrel in mid-January to $40 per barrel in April following production disruptions in Iraq and Nigeria and a decline in non-Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries production, mainly U.S. shale.
A proposed production freeze by major producers failed to materialize at a meeting in mid-April.
We expect slightly higher prices for energy commodities over the course of the year as markets rebalance after a period of oversupply,”
said John Baffes, Senior Economist and lead author of the Commodities Markets Outlook.
“Still, energy prices could fall further if OPEC increases production significantly and non-OPEC production does not fall as fast as expected.”