Oil prices steadied on Tuesday after a week of falls, but the outlook was uncertain as the head of the world’s biggest independent oil trader said the market would struggle to recover much ground over the next year.
Brent crude dropped $1.85 a barrel, or 3.7 percent, on Monday and was down 10 cents at $48.51 by 0950 ET.
U.S. crude was up 10 cents at $45.99 after closing down $1.37, or 3 percent. The U.S. front futures contract was due to expire later on Tuesday.
Ian Taylor, the chief executive of trading company Vitol, told the Reuters annual Commodities Summit that slowing oil demand growth and an increase in the volume of Iranian crude supply would help keep a lid on fuel prices.
“If we are above $60 by the end of 2016 I will be a little bit surprised,” said Taylor, whose company handled more than 2 billion barrels of oil last year.
Major oil exporters in the Middle East are pumping around 2 million barrels per day (bpd) more crude oil than needed at the moment, analysts say, filling inventories around the world.