Feb 23 (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs GS.N raised its Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude forecasts for the fourth quarter of 2026 by $6 each to $60 and $56 respectively, on lower-than-expected OECD stocks, even as it maintained its view of a 2026 surplus.

The bank now assumes 2026 global inventory builds in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries' commercial stocks will only come to 19%, versus 27% previously, and it therefore expects a subset of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC8+, to begin gradually increasing production in the second quarter of 2026.

In a note dated Sunday, Goldman noted that it was maintaining its 2026 surplus forecast of 2.3 million barrels per day (bpd), assuming no major supply disruption and no Russia-Ukraine peace. The bank sees Brent and WTI averaging $65/bbl and $61/bbl respectively in 2027.

Separately, in a note dated Saturday, Barclays said "oil market fundamentals are completely at odds with the super glut narrative."

Barclays said regarding oil prices that despite the 15% move higher year to date, geopolitical tensions still pose asymmetric upside risks.

Both Brent and WTI futures prices fell more than 1% on Monday as the U.S. and Iran prepared for a third round of nuclear talks, easing fears of an escalating conflict. O/R

"A potential 1 mb/d supply disruption--which corresponds to half of Iran's crude exports--for 12 months would boost the fair value of oil by $8," Barclays said.

Goldman, though, expects downside risks of $5 for Brent and $8 for WTI for the fourth quarter of 2026 if potential sanctions relief for Iran or Russia accelerates landed stock builds and unlocks higher supply in the longer term.

Brokerage/Agency	Brent		WTI		Forecasts as of
	2026	2027	2026	2027
Goldman Sachs	$64	$65	$60	$61	February 23, 2026
Barclays	$65		$61		February 21, 2026
Wells Fargo Investment Institute	$65- $75		$60-$70		February 04, 2026
JP Morgan	$58	$57	$54	$53	November 24, 2025
Macquarie	$61	-	$57	-	September 30, 2025
Commerzbank	$60	-	$57	-	November 11, 2025
Goldman Sachs	$56	-	$52	-	December 18, 2025
Barclays	$65	-	-	-	December 11, 2025
HSBC	$65	-	$62	-	April 15, 2025
BofA	$60	-	$57	-	December 18, 2025
Citi	$62	-	-	-	December 11, 2025
Deutsche Bank	$72	-	-	-	October 13, 2025
Morgan Stanley	$70		-	-	January 13, 2025
UBS	$67	-	-	-	January 5, 2026

* indicates end-of-period forecasts

# current as of given date, may not indicate date of revision

For a table of crude price forecasts as per Reuters' latest monthly poll, see OILPOLL