J.P Morgan Analysts led by Christyan Malek have predicted a rise in the price of crude from its current 76 dollars per barrel to 125 dollars in 2022 and may reach a record high of 150 dollars a barrel in 2023.
Brent recently traded at $72.96, up 0.33%. It has soared 41% year to date amid booming demand, with the global economy rebounding, and constricted supply.
The rise, according to the analyst, can be traceable to OPEC+, which is firmly in the driver’s seat.
OPEC+ — the combo of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other major producers, including Russia — “Have returned to a position of positive leverage, which it will defend by keeping inventories low, the market in balance and taking action to support optimal reservoir management through paced volume growth,” Morgan was quoted as saying on Monday.
Fear of renewed lockdowns and a hit to global economic growth following the discovery of the omicron variant of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 sparked a plunge in stocks and commodities, likely amplified by thin, holiday trading conditions on the day after Thanksgiving.
“While we believe a three-month pause to 400,000 barrel-per-day monthly increments is needed during the first half of 2022 to balance the market (and potentially a cut pending impact of new COVID variants), the group will struggle to deliver monthly growth of more than 250,000 barrels per day once reinstated,” the Analyst said
