Oil rallies on OPEC price sentiment

NEW YORK, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Expectations of a market recovery in the latest report from OPEC helped oil prices rebound in Wednesday trading, though Brent is still below $40 per barrel.

Crude oil prices are well below the mid-2014 levels above $100 per barrel as supplies far outweigh demand in an era of weak global economic growth. Decisions by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in late 2014 and in December to leave production guidance relatively unchanged despite weakness only added downward pressure to crude oil prices.

In its World Oil Outlook for 2015, OPEC said it expected a $5 per barrel increase in crude oil prices every year so that, in real prices, oil will be at around $71 per barrel by the end of the decade. A research note from Goldman Sachs last week said crude oil prices may need to hit $20 per barrel before a balance between supply and demand returns.

Crude oil prices rallied in the wake of the report's release, after hovering near 10-year lows earlier this week. Brent crude oil gained 1.7 percent at the start of trading in New York to sell for $36.73 per barrel. In a rare move, West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark price for crude oil, was at a premium against Brent, rallying 2.1 percent to $36.87 per barrel in early trading.

Gains were supported by data from the American Petroleum Institute showing the amount of crude oil in storage, an indication of supply and demand, fell 3.6 million barrels last week.

On the economic front, the U.S. Commerce Department said personal incomes increased 0.3 percent in November for the eighth straight month of gains as a solid labor market lifts wages. Data published Tuesday show the U.S. economy is growing, albeit slowly, at a pace just over 2 percent.

OPEC in its outlook said the price for crude oil might not reach the $100 mark again until 2040, in terms of current value. It cautioned that figures referenced in the report were not price forecasts, but "working assumptions."