Analysts Cut 2025 Oil Price Forecasts Again

Brent Crude oil prices are expected to average $74.53 a barrel next year, the monthly Reuters poll of dozens of analysts showed on Friday, as the experts downgraded their price outlook for the seventh consecutive month.

Brent Crude prices are set to average $74.53 per barrel next year as weaker global demand growth and enough supply would offset the impact of a potential delay to the OPEC+ cuts, said 41 analysts and economists in the survey.

Last month, the analysts had expected Brent Crude prices to average $76.61 per barrel in 2025.

The analyst consensus estimate in the Reuters poll has now been downgraded for the seventh month in a row.

So far this year, Brent Crude has averaged $80 a barrel.

The analysts expect the U.S. benchmark, WTI Crude, average $70.69 per barrel next year, the Reuters survey showed. The latest forecast is $2 a barrel lower than the October consensus of $72.73 per barrel.

Many analysts expect OPEC+ to extend the current cuts for at least a month, and even for the entire first quarter of 2025, as oil prices continue to be weak, with Brent in the lower $70s and WTI trading below the $70 mark.

Stricter U.S. sanctions against Iran under Donald Trump and geopolitical tensions could provide some support to prices early next year, but overall, expected tepid demand will weigh down on oil prices, according to analysts.

Early on Friday, oil prices were set for a weekly loss despite a flare-up in the Middle East and the virtual certainty that OPEC+ would not be bringing any barrels back anytime soon. Both benchmarks have dropped since the start of the week when the U.S. brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah was announced.

On Thursday, OPEC said that the OPEC+ group would move the meeting on its near-term oil production plans to December 5 from December 1, due to a scheduling conflict.