LONDON – Credit Suisse has raised in its latest note its 2013 average price forecasts for crude oil, saying that while prices will trade in a range until 2015, they should move into the upper half of that range next year. It raised its 2013 Brent crude forecast to $115 per barrel from $103 per bbl, and for West Texas Intermediate to $106.00 per bbl from $97 per bbl. “Though oil demand should continue to recover modestly, swing-producer Saudi Arabia is likely to continue to massage supply (with or without the aid of strategic petroleum inventories) so that prices do not stray far from their ‘acceptable' price range”, the bank said in a note dated Oct.12. It also raised its 2013 average price forecast for gold to $1,840 per ounce from $1,720 per oz, and for silver to $33.10 per oz from $29.20 per oz. “In light of the Fed's open-ended commitment to asset purchases, the shift in language on rates, and the potential for an additional program of Treasury buying once Operation Twist expires, we have shifted our gold forecast moderately upwards and outwards,” it said. – Agencies
