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Goldman Sachs lowers its oil price forecast following OPEC+'s decision to increase output

Goldman Sachs has reduced its oil forecast after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+) and its allies decided to increase oil production. The bank stated this in a Sunday note.

The bank expects Brent crude oil to average $60/bbl for the remainder of 2025, and $56/bbl by 2026. This is a $2 decrease from its previous forecast.

It also reduced its forecast of West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) by $3/bbl. Now, it projects that the average price for WTI will be $56/bbl through 2025.

OPEC+ decided on Saturday to increase oil output for a second consecutive month. The June production was increased by 411,000 barrels a day despite lower prices and weakened expectations of demand.

Goldman Sachs sees the OPEC+ agreement as a long term equilibrium strategy aimed to maintain internal cohesion, and strategically regulate U.S. shale oil supply despite relatively low inventories.

The bank has now increased its estimate for the final OPEC+ increase in production to 0.41 million barrels a day (mb/d) from 0.14 mb/d.

This revised forecast is based on the group's recent decision and stronger-than-expected economic activity data, suggesting that the expected demand slowdown may not yet be evident enough for OPEC+ to slow the pace of production increases when determining July production levels on June 1, the bank noted.

Goldman Sachs is of the opinion that despite the tight fundamentals in the oil market, the high level of spare capacity and the high risk associated with recessions are factors that skew risks for the oil price to the downside.

Brent crude futures traded at $60.02 per barrel at 0802 GMT. U.S. West Texas intermediate crude was trading at $56.96 per barrel. (Reporting from Anmol Choubey, Bengaluru; Editing by Louise Heavens).

(source: Reuters)