Barclays Capital has raised its crude oil price forecasts for 2008 by 11 percent due to rising demand and slow production outside of the OPEC region.

Barclays forecasts that Brent Crude will average $73.60 in 2008. This represents an increase of $7.40 from previous forecasts.

Barclays predicts West Texas Intermediate Crude prices will average $73.90, an increase of $6.60 over previous estimates.