Goldman Raises 2006 Oil Forecast to $68, Sees $60 Long Term
Aug. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the third- biggest U.S. securities firm by market value, raised its oil price forecasts for next year to $68 a barrel and said crude will stay at around $60 a barrel for years to come.
Goldman's projection for New York crude prices for 2006 was boosted from $55 a barrel. The forecast for oil to stay at $60 after that was raised from $45 a barrel because cost uncertainties have delayed investment in new oil projects, according to the Aug. 17 report from the firm's Commodity Research group, headed by Steve Strongin.
Goldman Sachs earlier this year was criticized after an equity analyst there, Arjun N. Murti, said oil prices could experience a ``super spike'' to $105 a barrel should supplies be disrupted from the Middle East. Goldman is one of Wall Street's two largest commodity traders, along with Morgan Stanley.
Goldman and Morgan Stanley each get more than $1 billion a year in revenue in the $60 billion-a-day energy-trading market, according to estimates by Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. analyst Brad Hintz in New York.
Oil for September delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange was trading at $63.32 a barrel at 9:45 a.m. London time, having dropped from a record $67.10 last week, a record for a contract nearest to expiration. Oil futures for delivery in December 2007 were traded at $61.34 today.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Stephen Voss in London at sev@bloomberg.net
Aug. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the third- biggest U.S. securities firm by market value, raised its oil price forecasts for next year to $68 a barrel and said crude will stay at around $60 a barrel for years to come.
Goldman's projection for New York crude prices for 2006 was boosted from $55 a barrel. The forecast for oil to stay at $60 after that was raised from $45 a barrel because cost uncertainties have delayed investment in new oil projects, according to the Aug. 17 report from the firm's Commodity Research group, headed by Steve Strongin.
Goldman Sachs earlier this year was criticized after an equity analyst there, Arjun N. Murti, said oil prices could experience a ``super spike'' to $105 a barrel should supplies be disrupted from the Middle East. Goldman is one of Wall Street's two largest commodity traders, along with Morgan Stanley.
Goldman and Morgan Stanley each get more than $1 billion a year in revenue in the $60 billion-a-day energy-trading market, according to estimates by Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. analyst Brad Hintz in New York.
Oil for September delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange was trading at $63.32 a barrel at 9:45 a.m. London time, having dropped from a record $67.10 last week, a record for a contract nearest to expiration. Oil futures for delivery in December 2007 were traded at $61.34 today.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Stephen Voss in London at sev@bloomberg.net