ZCZC
BCN-28
WORLDBANK-ENERGY-OIL-PRICE
Average price of oil will drop to $67 per barrel in 2019 – World Bank
WASHINGTON, January 9, 2019 (BSS/TASS) – The World Bank predicts a decline
in the average price of oil in 2019 to $67 a barrel, the World Bank said in a
report released on Tuesday.
The World Bank’s January 2019 World Economic Outlook is titled “Global
Economic Prospects. Darkening Skies.”
“Oil prices are projected to be flat, on average, during 2019-21, at $67
per barrel, potentially limiting fiscal and export revenue increases in oil-
producing economies,” the WB analysts say adding that the uncertainty of the
forecasts is high.
“Oil prices averaged $68 per barrel (bbl) in 2018, a touch lower than June
forecasts but about 30% higher than in 2017,” according to the report.
By the average oil price the WB implies the average price of Brent, Dubai
and WTI blends. In June, the World Bank forecast the average price per barrel
of oil in 2018 at $70, and in 2019 – $69.
According to the WB experts, this price of oil will remain over the next
three years. In addition, the outlook for supply is uncertain and depends to
a large extent on production decisions by OPEC and its non-OPEC partners,
according to the report.
“Considerable uncertainty remains about the full impact of Iranian
sanctions once the waivers end, as well as the outlook for Venezuelan
production. Meanwhile, crude oil output in the United States is expected to
rise by a further 1mln barrels per day in 2019, with capacity constraints
envisioned to ease in the second half of the year as new pipelines come
onstream,”the WB says in the report.
BSS/TASS/HR/1245