Brent crude oil and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil prices set to rack up fourth week of gains despite fall from $70

The price of Brent crude oil has fallen from yesterday’s 2014 high of $70 a barrel, but it is still on track to mark its fourth straight week of gains.

At the time of writing, Brent was down 0.59 per cent to $68.85 a barrel while the US benchmark was down 0.94 per cent at $63.20 a barrel.

Brent topped $70 a barrel yesterday on support from declining US stockpiles and production, despite concerns among analysts and traders that its rally was running out of steam.

The market has also been buoyed by production curbs led by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and Russia, which are set to last until the end of 2018.

However, Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at Forex, warned: “US shale oil output should rise with firmer prices, and this may keep the market amply supplied in the coming months. So, I would be very surprised if Brent oil goes significantly above $70-$75 or WTI north of $65-$70 a barrel.

“In fact, crude oil may have reached a short- or medium-term peak already.”

Razaqzada said it was far too early to say Brent oil had reached its peak, though.

A Reuters survey of more than 1,000 energy professionals found they expected crude prices to remain in a range of $60 to $70 a barrel in 2018.

Read more: What’s next for oil and gold prices in 2018? Here’s what analysts said