Macquarie Slashes 2015 Brent, WTI Oil Forecasts

Macquarie slashed its 2015 price forecasts for Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude oil on Tuesday. Macquarie analysts lowered their forecast for WTI to $52 a barrel from a previous forecast of $68 and cut its Brent forecast to $56 from $74. Mounting supply and high levels of storage were cited as factors continuing to weigh on the WTI and Brent market. But the firm also said it is more optimistic on the U.S. oil market vs. the international market for the second half of the year given expectations for a significant slowdown in U.S. production growth.