CALGARY – The latest energy forecast from consulting firm Deloitte sees lacklustre crude oil prices continuing this year and natural gas prices picking up steam.
West Texas Intermediate, the key U.S. light oil benchmark, is expected to average US$58 a barrel — about where it’s trading at currently.
That’s about 20 per cent lower than it was at this time last year and about 12 per cent below the commodity’s 2025 average.
Deloitte partner Andrew Botterill says the forecast doesn’t account for the U.S. raid on Venezuela over the weekend, but he’s expecting little change to the global oil oversupply in the near-term.
Meanwhile, natural gas prices in Alberta are expected to rise to $2.95 per mmBTU next year on average from $1.72 last year, now that the LNG Canada export terminal is shipping cargoes of Canadian gas to Asia.
Botterill says demand from energy-hungry artificial intelligence data centres isn’t being reflected in pricing yet, but it’s something he’s watching closely.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 6, 2026.