International credit ratings agency Fitch revised down its Brent oil price assumptions to $55 per barrel for next year and $65 a barrel for 2017.
Previously, the agency forecast Brent oil price at $60 per barrel in 2016.
Fitch said in a statement on Monday that the gap between oil supply and demand peaked at three million barrels per day in the second quarter of 2015. The agency does not expect the market to regain balance before the second half of 2016, after it digests raised oil stocks.
'We have therefore effectively pushed back the slow recovery we assumed by one year and now include a modest price recovery only in 2017,' Fitch added.
The agency also assumed that West Texas Intermediate (WTI) will average $50 a barrel in 2016 and rise to $60 per barrel in 2017.
'We have also lowered our long-term price deck for Brent to $75 a barrel. This reflects a combination of upstream efficiencies and cost deflation in oilfield services, which will push down marginal costs globally over the next few years. Efficiency gains in U.S. shale were already factored into our mid-year update and our long-term assumption for WTI therefore is unchanged at $70 a barrel,' the agency said.
By Ugur Serhan Ozcan
Anadolu Agency
ugur.ozcan@aa.com.tr