LONDON: Oil analysts have raised their forecasts for the crude price next year after major producers agreed to extend output cuts, a Reuters poll showed on Wednesday. Political tensions in Saudi Arabia, production disruptions in Libya and Nigeria and economic depression in Venezuela that has cut crude output will also support oil prices, the analysts said. Benchmark Brent crude futures LCOc1 are now forecast to average $58.84 in 2018, up more than $3 from $55.71 estimated in the previous poll at the end of October. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC producers, led by Russia, last week extended their deal to cut output by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) until the end of 2018 to end persistent oversupply. The group signaled it may stage an early exit from the deal if the market overheats and triggers too much of a price rise. “The OPEC cut extension is expected to send a positive signal regarding faster rebalancing in the oil markets… Strong compliance is expected from OPEC as the OPEC economies are still heavily dependent on oil revenues to meet their fiscal budget deficits and hence they need higher oil prices,” said Rahul Prithiani, director at CRISIL Research. Some analysts, however, expressed doubts over compliance from non-OPEC countries, especially Russia, which has plans to expand production from its newer oilfields. Published in Daily Times, December 7th 2017.