Analysts Forecast Marginal Brent Crude Oil Price Drop
January 3, 2024
Iran moved a warship into the Red Sea yesterday and this again raises the potential for more uncertainty for this area. Maersk has said they will stop shipping through the Red Sea and Suez canal as one of their ships was the one that came under attack in the last few days. They say the risk is just too much at this time.
Traders have eased back on the thought that the Fed would begin to ease back on interest rates. This caused the US dollar to rally 0.8% which is a massive jump for the dollar. The higher dollar pressured energy prices lower for most of yesterday’s trading.
A Reuters survey of 34 analysts and economists forecasted on 12/29/2023 that Brent crude oil would average $82.56 in 2024, which was down by $1.87 from the prior month forecast of $84.43.
OPEC+ will hold a joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee meeting in early February, according to three different sources and reported by multiple media outlets. The committee normally meets every other month but volatile market conditions and unrest among its members have caused the group to schedule outside that normal time frame.