Core Viewpoint - Goldman Sachs has lowered its oil price forecasts, incorporating further downward adjustments to GDP expectations, predicting Brent crude prices to drop to $62 and WTI prices to $58 per barrel by December 2025, and further to $55 and $51 by December 2026 [1] Group 1: Economic Assumptions - The forecast assumes that the U.S. economy will avoid a recession, with a projected mild increase in oil demand of 300,000 barrels per day in 2025 and 400,000 barrels per day in 2026, based on a 0.5% GDP growth in Q4 2025 and a global GDP growth of 1.7% [1] - OPEC+ supply is expected to increase moderately, with a total production increase of approximately 700,000 barrels per day over four months, following a 411,000 barrels per day increase in May [1] Group 2: Price Downside Risks - Three potential shocks could lead to downward pressure on oil prices: a typical U.S. economic recession, a global economic slowdown, and the cancellation of OPEC+ voluntary production cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day [2] - In a typical U.S. recession scenario, Brent crude prices are expected to fall to $58 and $50 per barrel by December 2025 and December 2026, respectively [5] - In a global GDP slowdown scenario, Brent prices could drop to $54 and $45 per barrel by the same dates, while the complete cancellation of OPEC+ cuts could see prices at $53 and $45 per barrel [6] Group 3: Trading Strategy Recommendations - Goldman Sachs recommends a new three-way trading strategy for macro investors and oil producers to hedge against recession and oil price decline risks [10] - The strategy involves selling Brent crude call options with a strike price of $75 per barrel for June 2026 and using the proceeds to buy put options with strike prices of $55 and $45 per barrel [10][13] - This approach is based on the premise that idle capacity limits the upside potential for oil prices, while U.S. shale oil provides a solid price support at lower levels [10]