A continued recovery in global oil demand should lead to higher prices going forward, but growth in output may be restrained in 2022 as producers continue to prioritize the balance sheet, Moody’s Investors Service said Thursday.

drilling rig

Other analysts also expect to see oil prices climb, as mobility throttles higher and economies recover from the deep impacts associated with the pandemic.

“We have increased our medium-term oil price range to $50-70/bbl to reflect our expectation that the full cost of production of a marginal barrel of oil will keep increasing in step with a continued recovery in demand,” said the Moody’s team.

Senior Vice President Elena Nadtotchi said, “We are now returning to the medium-term price range we had before the coronavirus pandemic as we expect...