Fitch revises crude oil forecast for 2024 to $80 per barrel

Rating agency, Fitch, has revised its crude oil fore­cast for 2024 to $80.0 per barrel from the previous $75.

It is, however, projecting a lower price of crude oil in 2025 to $70 per barrel, same as its earlier forecast of $70.

Presently, crude oil is going for $76 per barrel on the world market.

Therefore, if the price fore­cast is to hold and based on the stability of the cedi, fuel prices at the pumps will not change much in 2024.

The increased Brent and WTI oil benchmark assumptions for 2024, it said, are supported by OPEC’s continued attempts to support oil prices, including the recent decision by several mem­bers to join Saudi Arabia and Russia in implementing additional cuts in the first quarter of 2024.

According to the UK-based firm, the market was likely to be in a deficit of about 1.2 million barrels per day in the second half of 2023, according to the International Energy Agency.

It explained that OPEC+’s additional curtailments suggest that the deficit could persist in the first half of 2024, provided that compliance with production cuts remain strong.