Global liquid fuels

• Brent crude oil spot prices averaged $74 per barrel (b) in September, up $4/b from August and up $34/b from September 2020. Brent spot prices have risen from their September average to more than $80/b in early October. Oil prices have increased over the past year as result of steady draws on global oil inventories, which averaged 1.9 million barrels per day (b/d) during the first three quarters of 2021. In addition to sustained inventory draws, prices increased after the October 4 announcement by OPEC+ that the group would keep current production targets unchanged.

• We expect Brent prices will remain near current levels for the remainder of 2021, averaging $81/b during the fourth quarter of 2021, which is $10/b higher than our previous forecast. The higher forecast reflects our expectation that global oil inventories will fall at a faster rate than we had previously expected owing largely to lower global oil supply in late 2021 across a range of producers. In 2022, we expect that growth in production from OPEC+, U.S. tight oil, and other non-OPEC countries will outpace slowing growth in global oil consumption and contribute to Brent prices declining from current levels to an annual average of $72/b.