Specious Argument

Last month, I stated that I expected that West Texas Intermediate oil prices would be bound between $60 to $67.50 for the next few weeks. With a brief exception, WTI prices have been stayed within that range. I am reiterating that same expectation for the next few weeks because nothing has changed.

The ongoing geopolitical uncertainties remain. And the ongoing debate whether the increase in shale oil production will cause oil prices to recede again has yet to be resolved. Many believe that increasing demand is too great for shale to overcome, while others believe that current high prices will encourage too much production.

Today’s Wall Street Journal article “Forecasts for Oil Prices Rise for Fifth-Straight Month” states that investment banks have raised their price forecasts yet again (subscription might be required).

LONDON—Banks raised their forecasts for oil prices for the fifth month in a row in February, signaling continued confidence that prices will continue to recover as the global supply glut drains due to production cuts.

Brent crude—the global benchmark—is now expected to average $62 a barrel this year, while West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. standard, should average $58 a barrel, according to a poll of 15 investment banks surveyed by The Wall Street Journal toward the end of February. Both predictions are up roughly $1 from the January survey.

Even investment banks are having a difficult time trying to forecast oil prices.

On an investment site, one person commented that my forecasts were effectively useless because they stated the obvious. It was almost as though I was saying that there will be snow in Calgary in March, and it will be warm in Florida. There’s a certain amount of truth to this commenter’s complaint. The range is reasonably wide, and the forecasts do tend to mirror the latest prices.

The challenge, though, is that if I were to make the range narrower, then I would be much more likely to be wrong, in large part because I have no hard data for increased specificity. If I were to attempt to provide a forecast for a period further into the future, I would be truly guessing. Even those with access to far better information and statistics are not able to provide accurate longer-range forecasts. So instead, I focus on the next few weeks. I attempt to provide my reasoning based on information gained from the articles that I have read.

In summary, I expect that WTI oil prices will be bound between $60 to $67.50 for the next few weeks.

With West Texas Intermediate hitting $66.66 a barrel last Thursday, my forecast of between $50 and $60 a barrel for January was too pessimistic. There were a number of factors that led to higher oil prices, including uncertainty regarding potential new sanctions against Iran, international oil inventories depleting faster than expected, hedge funds’ extreme positioning in oil futures, solid cooperation amongst OPEC members with the possibility that Russia might work cooperatively with OPEC for many years, a depreciation of the US dollar, strong economic global growth, declining oil production from Venezuela, and a buoyant stock market where the S&P 500 has appreciated roughly 7 percent so far this year. All these factors have led to optimism that oil prices will remain strong this year.

I am always cautious about large price moves. Although the prior and other factors might propel oil prices even higher, I expect that prices will be bound between $60 to $67.50 for the next few weeks. While there is some room to the upside, I anticipate that the prior factors will likely prevent oil prices from falling too far in the near term.

Because I have been surprised by the strength of both oil prices and the stock market during the first few weeks of this year, I do not have much conviction in my oil price forecast. I am taking a wait and see approach for February and will reassess toward the end of the month.

Back in August, I quoted Dan Dicker saying that oil prices were likely to rise to $60 per barrel by year end, perhaps even $70. At the end of the last trading day of the year and after normal oil trading hours, West Texas Intermediate closed at about $60.10, after hitting a high of $60.51 near the end of the normal trading session.

I had predicted that WTI oil would remain below $60. And perhaps if there had not been a series of exogenous events such as the Kurdish Iraqui conflict, the Forties Pipeline System outage, and the extreme cold snap into the end of the year, prices might have remained below $60 per barrel. Exogenous events, of course, do happen with unpredictable regularity.

On Saturday, a Wall Street Journal article “Oil Prices Expected to Keep Rising in 2018, but It Could Be a Rocky Ride” (subscription required) quote indicated that Brent prices are forecast to average $58 per barrel.

A survey of 15 investment banks by The Wall Street Journal estimates that Brent crude, the international oil-price gauge, will average $58 a barrel in 2018, up from an average of $54 in 2017. The banks expect West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. oil gauge, to average $54 a barrel in 2018, up from $51 in 2017.

As noted at the outset of this article, WTI closed above $60. I expect that once some of the exogenous issues subside, oil prices will retreat. Furthermore, these high oil prices might attract some short sellers to drive prices lower. On the other hand, some argue that world inventories are depleting faster than expected, world economic growth remains strong, and shale oil growth alone will not be sufficient to keep a lid on prices below $60. We will need to watch to see how the oil story unfolds.

My expectation for the next few weeks is that WTI prices remain bound by $50 to $60 a barrel.

With WTI prices at about $58.00 per barrel, I am updating my WTI oil price forecast upward over the next several weeks to range between $50.00 and $60.00 per barrel. As mentioned last month, geopolitical uncertainties are likely to have created a floor near $50 per barrel. Aside from the conflict between the Kurds and Iraqis, North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, and the potential for President Trump to decertify the Iran nuclear deal, the arrests in Saudi Arabia have added to the list of geopolitical uncertainties.

In its latest monthly report, the International Energy Agency lowered its global crude demand growth outlook by 100,000 barrels per day for 2017 and 2018. The reduction in demand growth was in direct opposition to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countrie’ report that raised demand growth. If the IEA is correct in its forecast, current prices might not be sustainable.

On November 30, OPEC and Russia are scheduled to announce their decision whether they will extend their oil production cuts past March of 2018. Most, including me, expect that the cuts will be extended to the end of the year. Even if the cuts are extended, the bulls might declare victory and reduce their long positions. On the other hand, prices might rise even further with decreased uncertainty.

Because of the extended rally in oil prices and because of IEA’s reduced growth demand, I am cautious about oil prices escalating much further in the near future. I do appreciate, however, that global oil inventories are falling, and that might cause prices to spike higher. We should gain more insight after the market’s reaction to OPEC’s decision.