South Korea’s major refineries expected the prices of Dubai crude oil to hover around $65 to $70 this year as the free fall in global oil prices will likely be eased by a slowdown in the U.S. shale gas supply, industry sources said Thursday.

Out of the four market leading companies of SK Energy, GS Caltex, S-Oil and Hyundai Oilbank, three refineries forecast that the Dubai crude will rebound to $65 or $70 on average throughout 2015 from $53 on Dec. 30, 2014, according to the sources.

The other company expected the prices to go up to $70 or $80 this year.

The average price of Dubai crude, which accounts for 86 percent of South Korea’s total oil imports, started 2014 at $104 per barrel. South Korea relies on imports for virtually all its oil needs.

They noted that average prices will likely sink as low as $40 early this year as oil production outstrips demand for energy amid a slowing economic recovery in emerging countries.

But they predicted that a slowdown in production of the U.S. shale oil will drive up the global oil prices to over $65 in the latter half of 2015. (Yonhap)