Indonesia's Pertamina has signed a deal with Petrochemical Commercial Company (PCC) of Iran for the import of refined petroleum and petrochemical products.

In our view, crude prices in the next few months are likely to exhibit a sideways-to-bearish trend, mostly trading in the $35-$45 per barrel range. As North American supply remains strong and demand looks underwhelming, we are likely to experience pressure to the price of a barrel of oil.

Brent crude futures were trading at $48.35 per barrel at 0737 GMT (3:37 a.m. ET), flat from their last close, but over 15 percent higher than the $41.51 low for the month on Aug. 2. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was trading at $45.76 a barrel, up 2 cents from its previous close, and still over 16 percent above its $39.19 monthly low from Aug. 3.

U.S. oil production down 85 tbd, gas production down 373 mcfd.

Brent crude oil futures rose to a high for the month of $47.67 a barrel on Monday before dipping back to $47.10 per barrel at 0943 GMT, up 13 cents from their last settlement, and 11.3 percent above the last close in July. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose to a high of $45.15 a barrel before dipping to $44.63 a barrel, still up 14 cents from their last close. WTI has gained more than 7 percent in August.

Средняя цена на нефть Urals за период мониторинга с 15 июля по 14 августа 2016 года составила $41,57667 за баррель, или $303,5 за тонну. Согласно расчетам Минфина России экспортная пошлина на нефть в РФ с 1 сентября 2016 года понизится на $10,1 и составит $80 за тонну.

International Brent crude oil futures were trading at $46.20 per barrel at 8.47 p.m. ET, up 16 cents, or 0.35 percent, from their last close and not far off their $46.30 monthly high reached in the previous session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $43.71 a barrel, up 22 cents, or 0.51 percent, from their last close.

Saudi Arabia didn’t agree to limits on its production back in April because Iran, its regional rival, refused to join in. Several OPEC members want to revive the idea because Iran has regained much of the energy-industry might it lost during the years of Western sanctions.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were trading at $41.34 per barrel at 8.32 p.m. ET, down 37 cents, or 0.9 percent, from their last settlement. International Brent crude futures LCOc1 were at $43.72 a barrel, down 33 cents, or 0.8 percent.

In the first five months of 2016, U.S. crude oil exports averaged 501,000 barrels per day (b/d), 43,000 b/d (9%) more than the full-year 2015 average.

Brent crude oil prices are forecast to average $42/b in 2016 and $52/b in 2017. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices are forecast to be slightly less than Brent in 2016 and the same as Brent in 2017.

Saudi Arabia’s increased crude output comes as Russia and Iran are boosting shipments to top demand markets such as India and China. Iran boosted crude output to 3.85 million barrels a day and plans to keep boosting production to 4.6 million barrels in five years, Fars news agency reported Wednesday, citing comments made by Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh at parliament.

Global consumption of petroleum and other liquid fuels is estimated to have grown by 1.4 million b/d in 2015. EIA expects global consumption of petroleum and other liquid fuels to again increase by 1.4 million b/d in both 2016 and 2017, mostly driven by growth in countries outside of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Non-OECD consumption growth was 1.0 million b/d in 2015, and it is expected to be 1.3 million b/d in 2016 and 1.5 million b/d in 2017.

“We still haven’t reached the moment when OPEC members will agree to a production agreement, as Iran has not yet recovered its pre-sanction production levels,” Giovanni Staunovo, an analyst at UBS, said by e-mail. “Nigerian and Libyan oil output are also currently below capacity.”

Brent crude for October LCOc1 was up 13 cents at $45.52 a barrel by 1042 GMT (0642 ET), after rising $1.12 on Monday. The global benchmark fell nearly 15 percent in July. U.S. crude for September CLc1 was up 21 cents at $43.23.