The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Tuesday remained subject to heightened levels of uncertainty because responses to COVID-19 continue to evolve.
In its December Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), EIA said that reduced economic activity related to the COVID-19 pandemic has caused changes in energy demand and supply patterns in 2020 and will continue to affect these patterns in the future.
For the crude oil prices, EIA expected Brent prices will average 49 U.S. dollars per barrel in 2021, up from an expected average of 43 dollars per barrel in the fourth quarter of 2020. The forecast for higher crude oil prices next year reflected EIA's expectation that while inventories will remain high, they will decline with rising global oil demand and restrained oil production from Petroleum Exporting Countries and partner countries.
EIA forecast that global consumption of petroleum and liquid fuels will average 92.4 million barrels per day (b/d) for all of 2020, which is down by 8.8 million b/d from 2019, before increasing by 5.8 million b/d in 2021.
As for the United States, EIA expected that U.S. crude oil production will decline to less than 11.0 million b/d in March and will increase again to reach 11.4 million b/d in December 2021. On an annual average basis, EIA expected U.S. crude oil production to fall from 12.2 million b/d in 2019 to 11.3 million b/d in 2020 and 11.1 million b/d in 2021.
Editor: Galia
