The international rating agency Moody's Investors Service expects major change in oil price forecasts in the first half of 2023.
Report informs citing a Moody's Analytics report that preparations for EU sanctions against Russia, which came into force - a ban on imports of Russian oil and the introduction of the oil price cap - in December, softened the impact on oil prices.
This is due to the fact that many major oil importers secure their oil supplies in advance so that sanctions do not undermine their economies, according to the document.
Moody's expects the average price of Brent oil this year to remain below the 2022 average of $100 per barrel, but exceed the agency's medium-term forecast of $50-70 per barrel.
Last month, weak demand also led to a significant decline in oil prices, the company said, adding that US oil demand is 7% lower than a year earlier.
This destruction of demand stems from the cumulative effect of high oil prices. Warm weather is another reason for weak demand, the temperatures in the northern hemisphere through this point in winter is one of the lowest in the last 20 seasons, analysts said.
Moody's forecast for natural gas prices has been cut from $7 per MMBtu to $6.25 in the first half of 2023.
The company analysts view the recent collapse as weather-driven and temporary.
LNG contract prices are still much higher than the current Henry Hub prices. However, arbitrage opportunities are not available because the Freeport LNG hub is still offline, gas reserves in Germany are almost depleted and the infrastructure to receive more cargo from the US is lacking.The first US LNG tanker (with an annual shipment of 2.25 million tons) arrived at Germany's newly opened LNG terminal in Wilhelmshaven in northern Germany, demonstrating EU's ability to quickly replace Russian trade with broader transatlantic ties.