Oil prices to increase 115pc by year end: UBS

• UBS, a Swiss bank in its latest research expects Brent crude prices to increase to $43 a barrel in the latter half of the year.

Despite the recent historic plunge in global prices, financial experts believe that crude will jump back in the last quarter of 2020.

UBS, a Swiss bank in its latest research expects Brent crude prices to increase to $43 a barrel in the latter half of the year, as economies move back to their regular working after lockdown restrictions are eased down.

"While the oil market is heavily oversupplied this quarter, we expect it to move toward balance next quarter and become under-supplied in 4Q this year as lockdown restrictions are eased and oil demand picks up," said Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management, quoted Business Insider.

"We forecast Brent to recover to $43 a barrel by year-end," he said. With crude oil currently trading at around $20 per barrel, the rise to $43 represents a 115 percent jump.

The oil prices have collapsed owing to a decline in global demand due to coronavirus pandemic and lack of storage space.

Last week, the price of a barrel of benchmark US oil plunged below $0 a barrel for the first time in history, a troubling sign of an unprecedented global energy glut as the coronavirus pandemic halts travel and curbs economic activity.

The development comes after the supply of fuel has been far above demand since the coronavirus forced billions of people to stop traveling. Because of oversupply, storage tanks for WTI are becoming so full it is difficult to find space. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said last week that storage at Cushing, Oklahoma, the heart of the U.S. pipeline network, was about 72% full as of April 10.