The US Energy Agency (EIA) on Tuesday raised its price forecast for a barrel of oil in the United States in 2020 and 2021 while it expects a slowdown in production in the country next year.

The EIA is expecting an average WTI light crude price of $38.96 a barrel this year, up 2 percent from its November forecast. The projection for 2021 was also revised up 3.5%, to $45.78 per barrel on average.

For the barrel of Brent, the EIA expects average prices of $ 41.43 and $ 48.53 this year and next, respectively increases of 2% and 4.2% compared to its previous monthly forecast.

The EIA assumes production of about 11.34 million barrels of oil per day this year in the United States, which is 0.5% lower than its November forecast. But the expected level of production in 2021, of 11.1 million barrels, remains unchanged.

The WTI crude futures contract for delivery in January lost 13 cents, or 0.3% in session in New York, to $ 45.63 a barrel. Brent crude was up 5 cents, or 0.1%, to $48.83.