After a recovery that extended into the new year, oil prices have hit a rough patch as inventories have been building,<br />Daily domestic oil production averaged 8.9 million barrels last year,<br />and the Energy Department is forecasting an average of 9.2 million barrels this year and 9.7 million barrels in 2018.<br />“Demand continues to steadily rise and industrial players are moderately gearing up production.”<br />Traders who move the commodity markets from day to day had become overly complacent<br />that oil prices would continue to climb from the lows of under $30 a barrel of a year ago, energy analysts said, as it appeared that the OPEC agreement would hold.<br />Most energy analysts, however, said that while the renewed selling by commodity traders might send oil prices below $45 a barrel<br />for a time, the most likely outlook was for prices to bounce back and to continue to climb over the next few years.<br />“We see the green shoots of the recovery,” he said, “driven by a better outlook and fundamentals.”<br />Many analysts expect a rise in oil prices in the coming years, partly because investments in exploration have been cut sharply amid the downturn of the past two<br />and half years and partly because political risks remain high in many producing countries like Iraq and Venezuela.
