US crude and WTI: Credit Suisse slashes oil price forecasts by more than $10
Credit Suisse has become the latest big bank to slash its oil price forecasts, to the tune of around $10 per barrel for 2016 and 2017, on high inventories and slower demand growth.
The Swiss-based bank cut its 2016 price forecast for Brent crude to $36.25 per barrel from $58.00, while lowering its 2017 outlook to $54.25 per barrel from $65.
It also cut its 2016 WTI crude price forecast to $37.75 per barrel from $56.44, and for 2017 to $54.25 from $63.31 per barrel.
It joins other investment banks, including Barclays and Goldman Sachs, who have revised their oil price forecasts lower. Standard Chartered has taken the most negative view, warning the black stuff could fall as low as $10 per barrel.
Oil is currently hovering around $30 per barrel, as traders digest mixed messages from the market.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) is making renewed calls for rival producers to cut supply alongside its members, but Russia, seen as key to any deal, has so far refused to cooperate.
Meanwhile, Iraq's output hitting a record last month, stoking fears about oversupply.
Demand concerns also weighed, with China's rail freight volume, a key economic indicator, dropping 11.9 per cent in 2015 from a year ago, compared with a decline of 3.9 per cent in 2014.