Oil prices settle lower as soft demand, oversupply concerns persist

Investing.com -- Oil prices settled lower Wednesday, as a softer demand outlook continued to weigh on sentiment. 

At 2:30 p.m. ET (19:30 GMT), Brent oil futures fell 0.2% to $73.41 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 0.4% to $70.02 a barrel.  Oversupply concerns persists

The International Energy Agency forecast global oil supply to increase by 630,000 bpd this year and 1.9 million bpd in 2025, reaching 104.8 million bpd.

The pace of supply growth is expected outstrip supply, with the international energy watchdog forecasting global oil demand growth to accelerate from 840,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2024 to 1.1 million bpd in 2025. 

The report arrived on the heels of OPEC's monthly report, in which the group cut its oil demand growth forecast.  Oil prices to fall sharply in 2025- BofA 

Concerns about a supply surplus continued to draw bearish calls on oil prices, with analysts at Bank of America forecasting a more than 10% drop in oil prices next year. 

A rise in non-OPEC supply and sluggish global growth are at the heart of the analysts' bearish outlook, which calls for a surplus in 2025.

The analysts forecast WTI crude to average $61 per barrel next year, with Brent at $65 per barrel. 

“Given the oversupply narrative for 2025, it is hard to build a bullish case for oil prices,” the analysts said, adding that OPEC+ is likely to maintain voluntary production cuts unless demand surprises to the upside or supply disruptions occur.Oil prices settle lower as soft demand concerns persist

Source: Investing.com