Goldman ‘’super spike” analyst cuts oil forecast

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Goldman Sachs energy equities analyst Arjun Murti, one of the first to predict $100 a barrel crude, cut his 2009 oil price forecast to $110 from $140 a barrel this week due to global economic weakness.

“We have moderated our 2008 and 2009 oil price forecasts both to account for the recent pullback and better reflect oil demand uncertainty,” Goldman Sachs said in a research note prepared by Murti and other Goldman analysts.

Murti roiled oil markets in 2005 by forecasting oil above $100 a barrel — a prediction that came true late in 2007. Murti said earlier this year crude oil prices could rise further to $150-$200 a barrel before the end of 2009 in what he called a “super spike.”

Reuters