Oil prices eased on Tuesday after climbing to their highest levels in years in the previous session after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allied major oil producers decided to maintain restraint on supply.
The OPEC and its allies including Russia, collectively known as OPEC+, said on Monday that they would maintain an agreement to increase oil production only gradually, ignoring calls from the US and India to boost output as the world economy recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.
Oil prices have already surged more than 50 percent this year, a rise that has added to inflationary pressures.
In an interview with Manisha Gupta, Peter McGuire, CEO of XM Australia, said he expects Brent crude to touch $86 per barrel over the next couple of weeks.
“There are a lot of traders there that would have been hanging on to their hats and saying maybe $76-77 per barrel was the top line and now it’s at $82 per barrel. There is every chance that you will see $86 per barrel sometime over the next couple of weeks.”
He expects demand for crude to increase over the next few months as countries emerge out of the pandemic and people resume their lifestyles, holidays and travel.
“Demand for crude is not going to go away in a hurry. Airlines are going to be crisscrossing the skies with a lot of frequency over the next few months as people resume their lifestyles, holidays and travel. So I think there is definitely going to be an increase in demand. So, overall the global economy is doing quite well and so I got to say that 2022 could be a relatively good year unless we see a hiccup.”
Source: CNBCTV18