MOSCOW, June 6. /TASS/. The US Department of Energy raised its forecast for the cost of Brent crude in 2023 by 1.3% to $79.54 per barrel from $78.65 in the previous forecast, according to a report by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the department.

The agency also expects that in the context of declining global oil inventories in the second half of the year, the price of Brent will rise to $79 per barrel against its average price of $76 per barrel in May.

In 2024, the US Department of Energy predicts an increase in price to an average of $84 per barrel due to the OPEC + decision to reduce oil production for the entire 2024.

However, despite the actions of OPEC+, the agency expects that oil production in the world will increase in 2023 by 1.5 million barrels per day, and in 2024 - by 1.3 million barrels per day mainly due to non-OPEC countries (USA, Norway, Canada, Brazil and Guyana).

The price of WTI crude oil is projected at $74.6 per barrel in 2023 and $78.51 per barrel in 2024.

In addition, the US Department of Energy raised the forecast for daily oil production in the country in 2023 by 80,000 barrels to 12.61 million barrels per day, which is 720,000 barrels per day more than in 2022. The expected production volumes in 2024 are 12.77 million barrels per day (+80,000 barrels per day to the previous estimate).