Summary
- Average Brent, WTI 2025 prices lowest since 2020
- Brent set to post longest annual losing streak ever
- UAE pulls forces out of Yemen in conflict with Saudi Arabia
- Oversupply offsets geopolitical risks, sanctions on key producers
(Reuters) – Oil prices were little changed on Wednesday and are set to fall more than 15% over the course of 2025, as oversupply concerns grew in a year marked by wars, higher tariffs and OPEC+ output and sanctions on Russia, Iran and Venezuela.
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Brent crude futures , down nearly 18% – the most substantial annual percentage decline since 2020 – are on track for a third straight year of losses, their longest-ever losing streak. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was headed for a 19% annual decline.
BNP Paribas commodities analyst Jason Ying expects Brent to dip to $55 a barrel in the first quarter before recovering to $60 a barrel for the rest of 2026 as supply growth is expected to normalise while demand stays flat.
“The reason why we’re more bearish than the market in the near term is that we think that U.S. shale producers were able to hedge at high levels,” he said.
“So the supply from shale producers will be more consistent and insensitive to price movements.”
The 2025 average prices for both benchmarks are the lowest since 2020, LSEG data showed. Brent futures rose 9 cents to $61.42 a barrel at 1030 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $58.05, up 10 cents.
U.S. crude and fuel inventories rose last week, market sources said, citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday. The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its data later on Wednesday.
PRICES COOL AFTER STRONG START
Oil markets had a strong start to 2025 when former President Joe Biden ended his term by imposing tougher sanctions on Russia, disrupting supplies to top buyers China and India.
The war in Ukraine intensified when Ukrainian drones damaged Russian energy infrastructure and disrupted Kazakhstan’s oil exports and the 12-day Iran-Israel conflict in June threatened shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a major route for global seaborne oil, which fanned oil prices.
Adding to geopolitical tensions in recent weeks, top OPEC producers Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are engaged in a crisis over Yemen and U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered a blockade on Venezuelan oil exports and threatened another strike on Iran.
But prices cooled after OPEC+ accelerated its output increases this year and as concerns about the impact of U.S. tariffs weighed on global economic and fuel demand growth.
Key events driving Brent crude oil prices in 2025
OPEC+
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies have paused oil output hikes for the first quarter of 2026 after releasing some 2.9 million barrels per day into the market since April. The next OPEC+ meeting is on January 4.
Most analysts expect supply to exceed demand next year, with estimates ranging from the International Energy Agency’s 3.84 million barrels per day to Goldman Sachs’ 2 million bpd.
“If the price really has a substantial fall, I would imagine you will see some cuts (from OPEC+),” said Martijn Rats, Morgan Stanley’s global oil strategist. “But it probably does need to fall quite a bit further from here on – maybe in the low $50s.”
“If today’s price simply prevails, after the pause in Q1, they’ll probably continue to unwind these cuts.”
John Driscoll, managing director of consultancy JTD Energy, expects geopolitical risks to support oil prices despite fundamentals pointing to an oversupply.
“Everybody’s saying it’ll get weaker into 2026 and even beyond,” he said. “But I wouldn’t ignore the geopolitics and the Trump factor is going to be playing out because he wants to be involved in everything.”
Reporting by Florence Tan and Enes Tunagur; Additional reporting by Seher Dareen in London Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus, Jacqueline Wong and Frances Kerry
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