Higher oil prices forecast to be back soon

London

FOR all the noise about oil's collapse, the market is saying not that much has really changed: Higher prices will be back soon enough because the current slowdown in demand growth will prove fleeting.

While Brent crude for November delivery has fallen 25 per cent since June to US$86.03 a barrel, the price for 2020 contracts is down less than one-fourth that to US$91.53. Today's prices can't "be considered the new normal, or at least not yet", said Paul Horsnell, head of commodities research at Standard Chartered in London. "The back end of the curve does seem happier above US$90."