Commerzbank Lowers End-2023 Brent Forecast to $85/bbl

Commerzbank on Friday lowered its crude price forecast and revised its end-2023 Brent forecast down by $5/bbl to $85/bbl, reflecting pessimism in the market over the economic outlook despite, the bank said in a note cited by Reuters.

• The bank also lowered its end-2023 WTI forecast to $80/bbl l from $85/bbl.
• It also trimmed its 2024 Brent and WTI price forecasts by $5 to $90/bbl and $85/bbl respectively.
• While the likelihood of slowing economic momentum among key buyers, including China, the US and western Europe, could weigh on demand, the market could still see a supply deficit in the second half of the year, although there were doubts about the scale of it, Commerzbank said.
• "This is because of the reduced level of OPEC+ supply and the fact that demand from the Asian region should prove robust," it added.
• But market sentiment would still "remain battered" for some time, and an improvement would require oil inventories to decline over a longer period to confirm the supply deficit, the bank said.