PIRA Energy Group, a closely watched forecaster that predicted the slump in oil prices a year ago, said on Thursday it expected crude prices to rise to $70 per barrel by the end of 2016 and $75 a barrel in 2017.
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It’s possible that the market is movingbecause of this speculation.
Brent, the global benchmark for crude, was up $2, or 4 percent, at $51.25 a barrel by 10:58 a.m. EDT (1458 GMT).
The United States economy added a disappointing 142,000 jobs during the month, well below analyst estimates of 205,000 and the August jobs level of 173,000 was revised sharply lower to 136,000, surprising analysts.
Global benchmark Brent crude oil has dropped to around $50 from a high above $115 a barrel in June 2014 and many oil companies are losing money with oil prices so low.
“There have been proposals from a few of the OPEC countries, as well as a few oil-exporting countries that are not part of OPEC, to discuss the situation on the oil market at the level of experts”, he said.
Another supportive factor is the weakening greenback, which drives demand by making oil cheaper for buyers who are using other currencies.
Oil prices rose almost 2 percent overnight on Wall Street on a report that the number of active oil rigs in the US decreased by 26 to 614 last week, extending a recent streak of declines.
Brent crude fell 24 percent last quarter and is down 14 percent this year, following a 48-percent decline in 2014.
Crude oil futures rose further in thin Asian trade on Wednesday after breaking out of a month-long trading range on a forecast suggesting a global glut in supply may be easing.
Investors also awaited further signals from US government data on crude inventories this week.
Oil supplies from nations outside OPEC are set to fall by half a million barrels a day next year, Fatih Birol, executive director of the Paris-based worldwide Energy Agency, said at the same conference.
Prices tumbled Wednesday after a U.S. Department of Energy report showed commercial crude stockpiles rose more than expected in the week ending October. 2, indicating softer demand in the world’s top oil consuming nation.
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Saudi Arabia on Sunday cut pricing for November oil sales to Asia and the USA, citing stiff competition from other non-OPEC oil producers and weak demand.
