Goldman Sachs cuts ’26 oil price forecasts 

Goldman Sachs has lowered its 2026 average price forecasts for Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude by $4, now expecting Brent at $58 a barrel and WTI at $55, citing mounting recession fears and the potential for higher-than-anticipated OPEC+ supply.

The Goldman Sachs bank had already trimmed its forecasts last week to $62 for Brent and $59 for WTI, warning of further downside. It also halved its 2025 global oil demand growth forecast to 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) and revised 2026 demand growth down to 400,000 bpd, pointing to weaker GDP outweighing the benefits of a softer dollar and lower prices.

Moreover, Goldman noted that oil prices could rise above its forecasts if US tariffs are rolled back and market sentiment improves.

As of Friday, Brent was trading at $63.87 a barrel and WTI at $60.38, as escalating US-China trade tensions weighed on markets. China responded to US tariffs with retaliatory measures, including 34 per cent duties on American goods and rare-earth export restrictions.

The bank added that it expects OPEC+ output to rise by around 0.7 to 0.8 million bpd over four months, despite considerable uncertainty around production compliance.

Attribution: Reuters
Subediting: M. S. Salama