Oil above US$100/b, a new reality for 2022

OIL has likely found a home at the triple-digit mark of around US$100 per barrel (/b) for the rest of the year - up some 40 per cent from 2021's average level - as geopolitical tensions deepen, raising the prospects of more Western sanctions on Kremlin.

Constrained production by the world's oil cartel, chronic underinvestment in the last decade by oil and gas companies under pressure to decarbonise and slash capex coupled with bursting demand have also led to the tightest market conditions for the commodity.

ING's head of commodities strategy Warren Patterson expects Brent to average at US$105/b over 2022.