WB maintains this year's oil price forecast unchanged

World Bank on Wednesday maintained its forecast for this year's oil price unchanged at 55 U.S. dollars per barrel, saying that prices of industrial commodities are expected to rise in the coming two years.

In its latest quarterly Commodities Markets Outlook report, World Bank forecasted the crude oil prices in 2017 to reach 55 U.S. dollars per barrel, the same as it made in January. The price was 25.7 percent higher than than in 2016.

It expected the crude oil prices to grow 8.2 percent year on year to 60 U.S. dollars per barrel in 2018.

The rising oil prices will be supported by production cutbacks by Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC states, said the bank. But the forecasts are subject to downside risks that U.S. shale oil production recovers better than expected.

It forecasted the prices of energy commodities will rise 26 percent this year and 8 percent next year.

Prices for non-energy commodities, which include agriculture, fertilizers, metals and minerals, are projected to increase four percent this year and 0.7 percent next year. Both forecasts are higher than their projections in January.