The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) revised down its 2023 forecast for global Brent crude oil prices late on Tuesday, citing higher global oil inventories at the end of 2023.
In the December Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), the EIA revised down the price of Brent crude for 2022 to an average of $101.48 per barrel and the American benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI), to $95.22 a barrel in 2022. In the report last month, these figures were $102.13 and $95.88, respectively.
For next year, the agency expects the price of Brent crude to average $92.36 per barrel and WTI to average $86.36 per barrel.
The EIA said that global oil inventories are forecasted to fall by 0.2 million barrels per day (bpd) in the first half of 2023 before rising by almost 0.7 million bpd in the second half.
This forecast results from an expectation of higher global oil inventories at the end of 2023 than the EIA predicted in its November STEO, resulting in a Brent crude oil price forecast of $92 per barrel in 2023, $3 less than the forecast last month.
- US crude oil production increases
Crude oil output in the US is predicted to average 11.87 million bpd in 2022, up from 11.25 million bpd in 2021.
In 2023, crude oil output in the country is expected to reach 12.34 million bpd, surpassing the record high level set in 2019 of 12.30 million bpd.
OPEC’s output is estimated to average 34.11 million bpd in 2022 and 34.52 million bpd in 2023.
The agency predicts that non-OPEC liquids production will be 65.87 million bpd in 2022 and 66.54 million bpd next year.
Global crude oil production will average 99.98 million bpd in 2022 and 101.60 million bpd in 2023.
The agency forecasts that global oil demand will be 99.82 million bpd at the end of the year and 100.82 million bpd next year.
By Ebru Sengul Cevrioglu
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr