Brent crude futures rose 87 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $65.98 a barrel by 12.35 pm GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate was at $62.90 a barrel, up 96 cents, or 1.6 percent. To reach $100, demand would need to average above 102.6 million bpd in the third quarter and grow to 103.6 million bpd in the fourth quarter, JPMorgan said, in the absence of any additional OPEC+ supply response. It expects Iranian crude and condensate production to rise to 3.2 million barrels per day in December, from around 2.8 million bpd in the first quarter. Barclays expects Brent and WTI oil prices to average $66 a barrel and $62 a barrel, respectively, this year. It cut demand estimates for the Emerging Markets Asia (ex-China) region, flagging the risk of further downside if the recent surge in infections persisted.

Source: The North Africa Journal May 21, 2021 07:52 UTC