Crude oil prices are trading above $90 a barrel, hovering near their seven-year highs, supported by a strong United States nonfarm payrolls report, which indicates a resilient underlying economy that might be strong enough to withstand the surge in Omicron cases. The oil cartel, OPEC+, is committed to raising output by an additional 400 thousand bpd in March. However, that does not seem to be enough to erase concerns about supply shortages.
As petroleum production seems to be slow with respect to its demand, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) increased its Brent Crude oil forecast for 2022 by nearly 11% in its February outlook. On top of it, the EIA raised its natural gas prices forecast to $4.70/MMBtu on average in February, attributing it to uncertain weather conditions.
