The growing uncertainty surrounding oil prices presents a major challenge to all price forecasts. EIA's January Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), released yesterday, forecasts Brent crude oil prices averaging $58/bbl in 2015 and $75/bbl in 2016, with annual average WTI prices expected to be $3/bbl to $4/bbl below Brent.

In 2015, world oil demand is anticipated to rise by 1.15 mb/d, following an upward revision of 30 tb/d due to expectations of higher oil requirements in OECD America and Other Asia.

Oversupply in crude markets could take months or even years to fix depending on when producers outside OPEC cut their output, Abu Dhabi-based The National reported, citing comments by U.A.E. Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei.

Oil extended losses below $50 a barrel amid speculation that U.S. crude inventories will expand, exacerbating a global supply glut that’s driven prices to the lowest level since April 2009.

Ali al-Naimi, the oil minister of Saudi Arabia, was in no mood to address reporters at Opec’s November meeting, refusing to offer more than a few words after the cartel decided to hold output at 30m barrels a day.

Turkey is on its way to becoming the main hub for energy in Europe due to the recent introduction of the Turk Stream in place of South Stream. The elevation of the country's role became feasible after a series of major infrastructure projects that will certainly make Turkey the corridor for the supply of gas into the EU for the coming decades.

OPEC will need to “step in” amid further declines in oil prices, which are fair at about $70 to $80 a barrel, according to the group’s second-biggest producer.

The Availability and Price of Petroleum and Petroleum Products Produced in Countries Other Than Iran

EIA estimates that members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), excluding Iran, will earn about $700 billion in revenue from net oil exports in 2014, a 14% decrease from 2013 earnings and the lowest earnings for the group since 2010. OPEC earnings declined in 2014 largely for two reasons: decreases in the amount of OPEC oil exports and lower oil prices, with the 2014 average for Brent crude oil projected to be 8% below the average 2013 price.

Saudi Arabia and OPEC would find it “difficult, if not impossible” to give up market share by cutting crude production, the country’s oil minister said.