Brent oil will climb 17% from current levels as demand outpaces supply, Goldman Sachs says

Brent oil will climb 17% from current levels as demand outpaces supply, Goldman Sachs says

Brent oil should jump 17% from current levels to $75 per barrel this summer, with Goldman Sachs expecting a lag in supply relative to demand to support a further gain in prices.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies next month are poised to agree to boost production but the investment bank said the increase will likely fall short of its demand forecast.

Goldman Sachs now expects Brent to reach $70 in the second quarter and $75 in the third quarter, with each forecast raised by $10 per barrel. The investment bank's call would represent a 17% upside from Brent's intraday high of $63.94 in its continuous contract.

The "cross-asset oil outperformance this year remains driven by fundamentals, with better than expected demand and still depressed supply once again creating a larger deficit than even we expected in January and February, and with timespreads strengthening," said Goldman Sachs in a research note published Monday and led by senior commodity strategist Damien Courvalin.

Brent oil prices have jumped about 23% this year after starting 2021 at nearly $52 per barrel. The vaccination of millions of people worldwide to curb the spread of COVID-19 has bolstered expectations that more businesses will reopen, which