Oil prices are rising sharply at the moment, with the Northern European reference oil, Brent, rapidly reproaching a price of USD 100 per barrel.

However, Goldman Sachs’ strategists posit that further increases in oil prices could very well become a drag on risk appetite in the financial markets in general, Bloomberg News reports.

According to the major bank, growth optimism in the financial markets is already very high. It is therefore unlikely that it will be lifted further.

Goldman Sachs also points out that options trading currently indicates a 45% probability that Brent oil will remain above USD 90 per barrel until at least January next year.

However, the bank also estimates that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, known as OPEC+, are unlikely to pursue prices above USD 100 per barrel.

This is because, among other things, quite severe production cuts from OPEC+ countries, especially Saudi Arabia, have helped push up the price of the black gold.

The price of Brent oil has risen by a total of 13% over the past three weeks, prompting Mike Wirth, CEO of US oil giant Chevron, to predict that prices will probably soon reach USD 100 per barrel due to limited supplies as a result of the production cuts.

On Tuesday, the price of a barrel of Brent oil for November delivery rises 0.7% to USD 95.08.

(Translated by DeepL with additional editing by Christian Radich Hoffman)