Oil prices will fall in the second quarter as refineries shut for maintanance, curbing demand for crude, according to forecasters at Societe Generale SA and Facts Global Energy.
Demand will slow because of planned shutdowns, sending Brent crude, the global benchmark, to as low as $35 a barrel, Fereidun Fesharaki, Facts Global chairman, told a conference on Tuesday in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. The next few months will be “detrimental for oil” with Brent averaging $51.30 in the second quarter, Alain Bokobza, SocGen’s head of strategy in global asset allocation, said in a report e-mailed on Tuesday.
