EIA raises oil price, output forecasts for 2017, 2018

The U.S. Energy Information Administration raised its price and production forecast for Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil for this year in its monthly energy outlook released on Tuesday.

Brent crude is expected to average $53.5 per barrel (bbl) this year, up from $51.66/bbl projected in its outlook last month.

The agency also presented its first projection for 2018, expecting Brent crude prices to average $56/bbl next year.

WTI crude oil prices are forecast to average $1/bbl less than Brent in both 2017 and 2018.

The EIA also raised its projections for U.S. crude production to 9 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2017, compared with the previous forecast for 8.78 million. For 2018, the agency estimates a production of 9.3 million bpd.

The agency will publish its weekly inventory data later today.