Oil prices are on the climb, with one analyst predicting $85 a barrel by July, and a U.S. bank expecting $100 a barrel by next year.
Pulitzer Prize-winning author and energy analyst Dan Yergin told CNBC News recently that oil prices may continue to rally past three-and-a-half-year highs all the way to $85 a barrel as soon as July.
Yergin told CNBC news the cost could continue to climb due to the combined impact of falling output in crisis-stricken Venezuela, renewed U.S. sanctions on Iranian crude exports, and wars in Yemen and Syria that involve major oil-producing nations.
“We could see oil prices in July when demand is high… several dollars higher than it is. We could see it as high as $85 at least for a short period of time,” Yergin, vice chairman of IHS Markit, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
The forecast of higher oil prices are being reflected in the uptick of interest shown in the June 12-14 Global Petroleum Show being held in Calgary, Alta., says Stephanie Marx of DMG Events.
“The breaking oil price high lends optimism and excitement in the industry that’s already reflecting at GPS 2018,” says Marx, “with a 12 per cent exhibitor increase with six country pavilions and an impressive Digital Oilfield Zone sponsored by AVNET.”
Yergin’s remarks add an influential voice to a chorus of analysts warning about prices spikes. Goldman Sachs last week said Brent crude could spike above its $82.50 summer forecast, while Bank of America Merrill Lynch warned Brent could hit $100 a barrel by next year.
(CNBC)
