Oil prices started a moderate decline during afternoon trading on Tuesday after the previous strong growth. The current Brent quote is $81.53 per barrel. Yesterday's high was marked at $82.07. North American WTI oil shows a similar trend: a decrease to $77.50 after rising to $77.94 per barrel the day before. Yesterday, prices for Brent rose by 1.1%, and for WTI – by 1.4%. Analysts note that commodity prices continue to fluctuate in a narrow range. They are supported by tensions in the Middle East and the efforts of OPEC+ countries to limit production, while the growth of production outside OPEC, including the United States, puts pressure on prices. Goldman Sachs experts predict that prices for «black gold» will fluctuate in the range of $70 to $90 per barrel in the near future, while Bank of America analysts expect prices to be between $60 and $80 per barrel. Han Zhong Liang, investment strategist at Standard Chartered, notes that the oil market is in a sideways trend, but has shown good dynamics since the beginning of the year, especially in the context of weakness in the global commodity sector. However, Ricardo Evangelista, senior analyst at ActivTrades, points to the negative impact of sustained inflation in the United States, which reduces the likelihood of an imminent reduction in the key interest rate of the Federal Reserve System.
