Iraq expects the pressure on oil prices to continue through at least the first quarter of 2021, with oil minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar expecting the average for Brent during January-March 2021 at $45 a barrel, Bloomberg reports , citing an interview of Jabbar for Iraqi daily Al Sabah. As a result of this expectation, Baghdad will be basing its 2021 budget on an oil price level of $42 a barrel, following the fallout from the coronavirus, the report also noted. Brent is currently trading at $42 a barrel, with West Texas Intermediate hovering around $40, as Libya continues to ramp up production after the end of an oil port blockade and U.S. shale producers also increase output. The frac spread count—a metric tracked by Primary Vision that shows active well completion crews as opposed to Baker Hughes’ active well drilling—rose to 115 last week, from 111 a week earlier […]