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Real-Time Forecast Combinations for the Oil Price

Author

Listed:
  • Anthony Garratt
  • Shaun P. Vahey
  • Yunyi Zhang

Abstract

Baumeister and Kilian (2015) combine forecasts from six empirical models to predict real oil prices. In this paper, we broadly reproduce their main economic findings, employing their preferred measures of the real oil price and similar real-time variables. Mindful of the importance of Brent crude oil as a global price benchmark, we extend consideration to the North Sea based measure and update the evaluation sample to 2017:12. We model the oil price futures curve using a factor-based Nelson-Siegel specification to fill in missing values of oil price futures in the source data. We find that the combined forecasts for Brent are as effective as for other oil price measures. The extended sample using the oil price measures adopted by Baumeister and Kilian (2015) yields similar results to those reported in their paper. And the futures-based model improves forecast accuracy at longer horizon forecasts. The real-time data set is available for download from shaunvahey.com.

Suggested Citation

  • Anthony Garratt & Shaun P. Vahey & Yunyi Zhang, 2018. "Real-Time Forecast Combinations for the Oil Price," CAMA Working Papers 2018-38, Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.
    • Handle: RePEc:een:camaaa:2018-38
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    File URL: https://crawford.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/2025-01/38_2018_garratt_vahey_zhang.pdf
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    Cited by:

    1. Li, Li & Kang, Yanfei & Li, Feng, 2023. "Bayesian forecast combination using time-varying features," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 1287-1302.
    2. Funashima, Yoshito, 2020. "Global economic activity indexes revisited," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    3. Cotter, John & Eyiah-Donkor, Emmanuel & Potì, Valerio, 2023. "Commodity futures return predictability and intertemporal asset pricing," Journal of Commodity Markets, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).
    4. Kilian, Lutz, 2022. "Facts and fiction in oil market modeling," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    5. Guo, Ranran & Ye, Wuyi, 2021. "A model of dynamic tail dependence between crude oil prices and exchange rates," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    6. Christiane Baumeister & Dimitris Korobilis & Thomas K. Lee, 2022. "Energy Markets and Global Economic Conditions," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 104(4), pages 828-844, October.
    7. Amor Aniss Benmoussa & Reinhard Ellwanger & Stephen Snudden, 2020. "The New Benchmark for Forecasts of the Real Price of Crude Oil," Staff Working Papers 20-39, Bank of Canada.
    8. Reinhard Ellwanger, Stephen Snudden, 2021. "Predictability of Aggregated Time Series," LCERPA Working Papers bm0127, Laurier Centre for Economic Research and Policy Analysis.
    9. Garratt, Anthony & Petrella, Ivan & Zhang, Yunyi, 2022. "Asymmetry and Interdependence when Evaluating U.S. Energy Information Agency Forecasts," MPRA Paper 114325, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Krüger, Jens & Ruths Sion, Sebastian, 2019. "Improving oil price forecasts by sparse VAR methods," Darmstadt Discussion Papers in Economics 237, Darmstadt University of Technology, Department of Law and Economics.
    11. Pincheira-Brown, Pablo & Bentancor, Andrea & Hardy, Nicolás & Jarsun, Nabil, 2022. "Forecasting fuel prices with the Chilean exchange rate: Going beyond the commodity currency hypothesis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    12. Ellwanger, Reinhard & Snudden, Stephen, 2023. "Forecasts of the real price of oil revisited: Do they beat the random walk?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    13. Knut Are Aastveit & Jamie L. Cross & Herman K. van Dijk, 2023. "Quantifying Time-Varying Forecast Uncertainty and Risk for the Real Price of Oil," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(2), pages 523-537, April.
    14. Benmoussa, Amor Aniss & Ellwanger, Reinhard & Snudden, Stephen, 2026. "Carpe diem: Can daily oil prices improve model-based forecasts of the real price of crude oil?," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 281-295.
    15. Verena Monschang & Bernd Wilfling, 2022. "A procedure for upgrading linear-convex combination forecasts with an application to volatility prediction," CQE Working Papers 9722, Center for Quantitative Economics (CQE), University of Muenster.
    16. Eric Benyo, Reinhard Ellwanger, Stephen Snudden, 2025. "A Reappraisal of Real-time Forecasts of the Real Price of Oil," LCERPA Working Papers jc0158, Laurier Centre for Economic Research and Policy Analysis, revised Jun 2025.
    17. Tian, Guangning & Peng, Yuchao & Du, Huancheng & Meng, Yuhao, 2024. "Forecasting crude oil returns in different degrees of ambiguity: Why machine learn better?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    18. Anthony Garratt & Shaun P. Vahey & Yunyi Zhang, 2019. "Real‐time forecast combinations for the oil price," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(3), pages 456-462, April.
    19. Myung-Hun Kim & Eul-Bum Lee & Han-Suk Choi, 2019. "A Forecast and Mitigation Model of Construction Performance by Assessing Detailed Engineering Maturity at Key Milestones for Offshore EPC Mega-Projects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-21, February.

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    JEL classification:

    • C01 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - General - - - Econometrics
    • C32 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes; State Space Models
    • C53 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Forecasting and Prediction Models; Simulation Methods

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