Dubai: Brent crude, which fell below the keenly-watched $50 (Dh183.50) per barrel mark on Friday, may fall further as supply overhangs amid sagging oil demand.
Brent crude closed 2.11 per cent lower at $49.61, while New York Mercantile Exchange WTI crude closed 1.50 per cent lower at $46.05.
For the last week though, US crude was up almost 2 percent, after last week’s near 12 percent gain, the biggest since 2011.
“The risk is still on the downside in crude. I don’t think we have a much upside from current levels,” Gary Dugan, chief investment officer at National Bank of Abu Dhabi told Gulf News, adding “we still have places like Iran, Saudi etc still pumping agressively.”
Crude is still down more than 20 per cent from this year’s closing peak in June as leading members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries sustain output and U.S. crude stockpiles remain almost 100 million barrels above the five-year seasonal average.
Meanwhile, Barclays joined several others in cutting its estimate for crude.
Barclays cut its 2015 Brent price forecast by $5 to $55 a barrel on Friday, and by $5 to $63 a barrel for 2016.
BNP Paribas lowered its Brent price forecasts on Thursday to $56 per barrel from $62 for 2015 and to $62 from $76 for 2016.
