Oil prices rose around 2 percent on Monday, paring some steep losses sustained over the past trading week. Brent crude traded at around $63.83 on Monday morning, up 1.6 percent, while U.S. crude was trading at $60.35, up 1.9 percent.
Russia and Saudi Arabia are currently leading a joint OPEC and non-OPEC effort to try to reduce a global supply overhang and prop up prices. The deal between OPEC and its allied producers — which started to withhold output in January 2017 — is scheduled to last throughout the calendar year.
Meanwhile, Goldman said it “continued to have an above-consensus outlook for global oil demand.”
Late last year, Goldman lifted its Brent price forecast for 2018 to $62 a barrel and its WTI projection to $57.50 a barrel. The revisions were up from $58 a barrel and $55 a barrel respectively.
The price of oil collapsed from near $120 a barrel in June 2014 due to weak demand, a strong dollar and booming U.S. shale production. OPEC’s reluctance to cut output was also seen as a key reason behind the fall. But, the oil cartel soon moved to curb production — along with other oil-producing nations — in late 2016.
