| Moody's Investors Service has reduced its price estimates for Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate crude amid continued oversupply in the oil markets and the risk of additional supply from Iran. Moody's has lowered its price estimate in 2016 for both Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude, the North American benchmark, to $33/barrel (bbl). For Brent, this marks a $10/bbl reduction from the rating agency's previous estimate, and for WTI, a $7/bbl reduction. Moody's expects that both prices will rise by $5/bbl on average in 2017 and 2018.
"OPEC countries continue high levels of production in the battle for market share, contributing to the current oil glut despite moderate consumption growth by key consumers such as China, India and the US," said Terry Marshall, a Moody's Senior Vice President. "In addition, we expect the rise in Iranian oil output this year to offset or exceed production cuts in the US."..............................................Full Article: Source
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