Goldman Sachs expects Brent oil to average over US$100 a barrel in March, and US$85 in April, it said on Friday, as energy prices remain volatile due to the Iran war and damage to Middle East energy infrastructure and disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent futures for May were trading at US$100.13 a barrel at 0530 GMT, heading for about an 8 percent weekly increase. On Monday, prices hit US$119.50 a barrel, its highest since mid-2022.
Goldman sees Brent crude gradually easing back to the low US$70s later in the year, however, if the disruption to oil flows proves longer-lived, oil prices could reach higher peaks and end the year at higher levels.
Goldman said a two-month disruption of the Strait of Hormuz, which has been effectively shut since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran on February 28 and through which one-fifth of the world's oil and natural gas supply passes, would push its fourth quarter average Brent price estimate from US$71 a barrel to US$93 a barrel.
Goldman on Thursday raised its Brent and WTI crude oil price forecasts for the fourth quarter of 2026 to US$71 a barrel for Brent, from US$66, and US$67 per barrel for WTI from US$62.
Reuters
