NEW YORK — Some major investment banks are still betting that oil prices will grow next year despite an emergency injection of crude on world markets from the U.S. and other countries.
Higher oil prices should eventually push gasoline prices up as well.
Benchmark crude climbed as high as $97.48 per barrel Tuesday after Barclays Capital raised its 2012 price forecast for Brent crude, used to price many international types of oil. And Goldman Sachs said the International Energy Agency’s decision at the end of June to release 60 million barrels of oil from its reserves won’t cool off prices as much as originally thought.
Independent oil analysts say prices still could head lower this year. But some think the IEA’s announcement speaks volumes about its expectations for world oil supplies.
