Oil prices are expected to average $65 a barrel this year, up from the $53 per barrel average of 2017, driven by strong consumer demand and OPEC’s continued cuts, the World Bank said in its April Commodity Markets Outlook. The World Bank now expects prices of energy commodities—crude oil, natural gas, and coal—to jump as much as 20 percent in 2018, which is a 16-percentage point upward revision from the bank’s previous commodity market outlook from October last year. “Accelerating global growth and rising demand are important factors behind broad-based price increases for most commodities and the forecast of higher commodities prices ahead,” said Shantayanan Devarajan, World Bank Senior Director for Development Economics and acting Chief Economist. “At the same time, policy actions currently under discussion add uncertainty to the outlook,” Devarajan noted. “Strong oil demand and greater compliance by the OPEC and non-OPEC producers with their agreed output […]