The U.S. Department of Energy has raised its forecast for Brent crude oil prices in 2025 from $74.31 to $74.50 per barrel, according to the monthly forecast data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
The forecast for 2026 remains unchanged at $66.46 per barrel.
As previously reported, the EIA estimated the average Brent price for the end of 2024 to be $80.56 per barrel.
The U.S. Department of Energy has also increased its forecast for global demand for oil and other liquid hydrocarbons (LHC) in 2024 from 104.1 million barrels per day (b/d) to 104.14 million b/d.
Considering that the EIA has maintained its oil demand estimate for 2023 at 102.77 million b/d, the forecast for global consumption growth for the current year has also been raised by 40,000 b/d to 1.37 million b/d.
The forecast for LHC demand in 2026 has been increased by 30,000 b/d from 105.15 million b/d to 105.18 million b/d. Thus, the EIA now estimates the growth in oil demand for the next year at 1.04 million b/d, which is just 10,000 b/d lower than in the January report.