ET:Bank of America Merrill Lynch cuts Brent crude price forecasts
Bank of America Merrill Lynch lowered its Brent price forecasts on Wednesday, citing lower global oil demand, rising supplies and higher inventories.
The bank cut its Brent crude oil price forecast to $103 per barrel from $111 for the second half of 2013. It said it expected the weakness to persist next year and reduced its 2014 average Brent price outlook to $105 per barrel from $112.
"There is a growing chance that Brent will move down structurally to a $90-100 per barrel band after 2014," analyst Francisco Blanch said in a note to clients.
BofA Merrill, however, kept its forecasts unchanged for the landlocked U.S. light crude oil, which is also known as West Texas Intermediate.
The bank expects WTI prices to average $91 per barrel in the second half of this year and $92 in 2014.
"Surging shale oil output combined with storage and import displacement limitations continue to present downside risk (for WTI)," analyst Blanch said.
