Goldman Sachs on Sunday said it was maintaining its cautious approach on West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude prices for the remainder of this year and in 2026 after OPEC+'s widely expected decision Saturday to raise output by 411,000 b/d in July.
The producer group's July output decision matches that of May and June and was in line with what the bank had expected. Goldman added that it expects the organization will agree to a similar output increase in August. is inline with the bank's expectations and Goldman Analysts believe the same will happen in August. Of the 2.2 million b/d of voluntary cuts OPEC+ members had agreed to earlier, the group has restored about 1.4 million b/d.
Goldman analysts said three factors explain OPEC+ supply increase. Oil markets remain relatively tight and the OPEC statement described fundamentals as "healthy."
The bank also cited a steady global economic outlook.
"Global hard economic activity data continue to beat, while soft survey data started to recover following the May 12 US-China trade détente," the report said.
Lastly, the investment bank said the production increase potentially reflects the continued shift to a long-run equilibrium that Goldman believes is focused on normalizing spare capacity and supports inner cohesion while disciplining U.S. shale supply.
The bank said it was maintaining its 2025 price forecast as a small upgrade in demand will likely offset the higher OPEC+ production. Goldman maintained its Brent and WTI forecast of $60/bbl and $56/bbl, respectively, for the remainder of this year, and continues to have a $56/bbl price for Brent and WTI at $52/bbl in 2026. The medium term risks to prices are to the downside, the bank added, as there is strong supply growth outside of U.S. shale.
This content was created by Oil Price Information Service, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
--Reporting by Denton Cinquegrana, dcinquegrana@opisnet.com; Editing by Jeff Barber, jbarber@opisnet.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 02, 2025 11:17 ET (15:17 GMT)
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