Oil prices continue to rise Friday morning, which sees Asian financial markets lifted by optimism and confidence in China’s recovery following its reopening while signs of economic slowdown in other parts of the world recede into the background.

A barrel of European reference crude Brent trades at USD 86.38 Friday morning against USD 85.46 Thursday afternoon. Meanwhile, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate sells concurrently for USD 80.67 per barrel against USD 79.89 Thursday afternoon.

Oil prices are thus headed for a second consecutive week of gains.

All in all, oil prices haven’t changed much so far in 2023 due to opposing trends in major economies. China appears to be headed for an upturn, while the US and Europe look to be facing a downward trend.

Major stock exchange players hold different views on the direction of oil, reports Bloomberg News.

Goldman Sachs projects that prices are set to trade at USD 105, or higher, per barrel. Meanwhile, JPMorgan is far more cautious, expecting Brent oil to crack USD 100 per barrel due to the absence of any new geopolitical occurrences.

Morgan Stanley estimates oil prices at USD 100-110 while Citigroup holds that Brent will average around USD 80 this year.