JP Morgan sees $150 oil in July, Lehman ups forecasts

LONDON (Reuters) - Wall Street bank JP Morgan said on Tuesday crude oil futures may hit $150 later this month while its rival Lehman Brothers LEH.N raised its oil price forecasts sharply.

International benchmark U.S. crude futures struck a record high of $145.85 a barrel last week due to a combination of robust demand growth from emerging markets such as China, concerns over long-term supplies and inflow of investors' money.

Oil's 50 percent rise this year has surpassed most analysts' expectations, prompting them to repeatedly revise their price forecasts.

"With the $150 in easy reach and a significant number of outstanding August WTI call options at that strike price, it seems almost a certainty ahead of the July 22 expiry," JP Morgan (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said in its monthly research note.

The bank said it expects the price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), or the underlying grade of U.S. crude futures, to likely remain above $130 for the rest of the summer and $115 throughout this year even if demand weakens.

Paul Cheng with Lehman Brothers' equity research team raised its oil price forecast to an average $127 a barrel for 2008 from its previous assumption of $105.

He expected oil prices would average $115 next year, compared with its previous forecast of $90, he said in a note.

(Reporting by Ikuko Kao; editing by James Jukwey)