Oil at $60 gains more backers on forecast for higher US demand

5/30/2016 2:48:41 PM

(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Abu Dhabi-

The United Arab Emirates's Economy Minister joined forecasters looking for US$60 crude this year with demand and production moving more in line.

'It's possible for oil prices to reach US$60 or more during this summer' as demand increases in the US, UAE Economy Minister Sultan bin Saeed al Mansoori said at a conference in Abu Dhabi on Monday. Crude will end the year higher than US$60 a barrel, Mario Maratheftis, global chief economist at Standard Chartered Plc, said on Bloomberg TV. SEB Bank forecast last week that Brent would touch US$60 at times in 2016.

Oil futures jumped 31 per cent this year, climbing above US$50 a barrel last week, as US crude stockpiles declined, trimming a glut. Robust demand in India and other emerging nations led the International Energy Agency in May to reduce its estimate of the global oil surplus for the first half. Brent last traded above US$60 in July.

'We've always been incredibly bullish on oil,' Maratheftis said. 'We expected supply to collapse. Demand is still very strong. I would expect oil prices to keep rising.'

Brent for July settlement, which expires Tuesday, slid as much as 40 cents, or 0.8 per cent, to US$48.92 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange on Monday. Prices lost 27 cents to US$49.32 on Friday.

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