Barclays bullish on Brent crude as COVID vaccines promise demand boost

Barclays said it is remaining bullish on crude oil prices for next year on the assumption that the rollout of COVID vaccines will ease impacts of the pandemic, thus driving a recovery in economic activity and oil demand. The bank’s analysts pitch their above consensus Brent crude forecast at around US$53 per barrel, current price cUS$45.72. At the same time, Barclays sees the West Texas Intermediary (WTI) crude at US$50 per barrel in 2021. Away from the pandemic factors, meanwhile, OPEC and Russia are speculated to be close to postponing an envisaged hike in crude production quotas. A 2mln barrel per day rise was slated for January and it is suggested that it could move out three months. Today, Brent crude is up around 1.8% changing hands at US$45.77 per barrel whilst WTI was 1.6% higher at US$43.10.