MOSCOW, September 10. /TASS/. The price of Brent crude oil in September will return to above $80 per barrel due to withdrawals from global oil inventories, according to the forecast in a report by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the US Department of Energy.

"Despite a drop in the Brent crude oil spot price to $73 per barrel (b) on September 6, we expect ongoing withdrawals from global oil inventories will push prices back above $80/b this month," the report says.

Experts from the US Department of Energy also stress that more oil will be taken out of inventories in the fourth quarter of 2024 than previously expected, as OPEC+ countries decided to postpone increasing oil production until December.

"Although market concerns over economic and oil demand growth, particularly in China, have increased, causing oil prices to fall, OPEC+ production cuts mean less oil is being produced globally than is being consumed," the report says.

The department noted that a significant reduction in global oil reserves by the end of the year was expected even before OPEC+'s decision to postpone production recovery. Now experts expect reserves to decline even more. They estimate a decline in global reserves of 0.9 million barrels per day (bpd) in the third quarter of 2024 and by more than 1 million bpd during the first quarter of 2025. "We expect the Brent crude oil spot price to average $82/b in 4Q24 and average $84/b in 2025," the report says.