Wednesday 15 June 2016 2:10 pm

Goldman Sachs declares end to oil price recovery

Goldman Sachs has dismissed what's been described by some analysts as a recovery in the global oil markets.

The uber bear said it expects a "modest" deficit in the coming months due to current prices, before the market returns to surplus early next year.

Rising demand, falling US oil output as well as supply disruptions have helped the black stuff recover from below $28 per barrel in January to just under $50 today.

But Damien Courvalin, an analyst at Goldman Sachs, said that this was, at best, the first signs of a turnaround.

"Canadian production is finally restarting, production from other Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries' members continues to beat our expectations."

Courvalin continued: "The recent recovery in prices risks that non-Opec production declines less than we expect, especially in the US."

The International Energy Agency said yesterday that oil markets were beginning to balance, however a small surplus will re-emerge early next year.

The note also said recent signs that the global oil market was in deficit last month was due to a strong pull from China, rather than underlying fundamentals.

But once Chinese oil imports normalise, it's likely that oil inventories data will start to suggest that the global market isn't yet in deficit.

Brent crude, the global benchmark, was down 1.90 per cent at $48.90 per barrel this afternoon. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate crude, the US benchmark, shed 1.40 per cent to $47.80.