Analysts are currently rushing out their forecasts for 2011, and one thing that almost everyone seems agreed on is this: oil prices will remain high.

Last week, Barclays predicted that oil would hit $100/barrel at points during the next year. Today, Moody’s has made a slightly lower prediction, saying that it expected prices to average around $80/barrel over the year. (It is worth pointing out that these two are not mutually exclusive).

As ever, the driving factor is Chiinese demand:

Oil finally moved sharply higher late in the year, thanks to continued strength in Asia (particularly China), a weaker US dollar and an improving outlook for western economies…

We expect these fundamental and technical dynamics to continue in 2011, keeping oil prices strong.