EIA says cuts 2022 forecast for avg Brent oil price to $70.05

MOSCOW, Dec 8 (PRIME) -- The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) has reduced its 2022 average Brent price forecast to $70.05 per barrel from $71.91 and for the WTI oil blend to $66.42 from $68.28 as the omicron variant of the coronavirus had emerged, and its impact on oil consumption in the world is unclear, the EIA said late on Tuesday in a monthly outlook.

The demand forecast for 2022 was decreased to 100.5 million barrels per day from 100.9 million barrels per day.

The 2021 forecast for the average Brent price was cut to U.S. $70.6 per barrel from $71.59. The forecast for 2021 demand was cut to 96.9 million barrel per day, which is still an increase of 5.1 million barrels per day compared with 2020.

The EIA also downgraded its 2022 outlook for the average U.S. production by 50,000 barrels per day to 11.85 million barrels while raising the 2021 expectation by 50,000 barrels per day to 11.18 million barrels.

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