The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday, Sept. 18, edition that RBC Capital's global energy research analysts lowered their oil and natural gas projections for next year on Tuesday, citing "oil softness driven in large part by refinery margin compression, demand weakness and potential oversupply dynamics into 2025." The Globe's David Leeder writes in the Eye On Equities column that the analysts said in a report titled Feeling the Headwinds: "That said, energy producers are well equipped to handle commodity price volatility given their strong balance sheets along with ongoing shareholder return optionality via buybacks and dividends. Positioning-wise, we favour energy producers with cash flow leverage toward upstream oil." The firm lowered its 2024 Brent and WTI price projections by 4 per cent and 3.7 per cent to $80.36 and $76.16 per barrel (from $83.66 and $79.10) (all figures U.S. unless otherwise stated). RBC's 2025 estimates dropped 11.6 per cent and 12.2 per cent to $72.60 and $68.16 (from $82.17 and $77.67). RBC's Greg Pardy reaffirmed his "sector perform" call for Parex Resources, while trimming his share target by $2 (Canadian) to $15 (Canadian). Analysts on average target the shares at $23.35 (Canadian).