Citi Research forecast on Thursday that oil prices would ease through the rest of 2024, with Brent crude futures at $86 per barrel in the second quarter of 2024 and at $74 in the third quarter.
“With crude oil prices now trading over $10/bbl off their highs, we could not rule out some speculative buying, but still believe the right strategy in this balance between geopolitical risks and loosening fundamentals is to sell any rally,” Citi added.
Brent crude futures were trading around $84 a barrel on Thursday.
Goldman Sachs in a note dated Wednesday said it still expects Brent crude futures to remain in a range of $75 to $90 a barrel in most scenarios and forecasts they will average $82 in 2025.
(Reporting by Anushree Mukherjee in Bengaluru; editing by Diane Craft and Deepa Babington)