By Alex Lawler
LONDON (Reuters) – OPEC on Tuesday stuck to its forecasts for robust growth in global oil demand in 2023 and 2024 citing signs that major economies are faring better than expected despite headwinds such as high interest rates and elevated inflation.
World oil demand will rise by 2.25 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2024, compared with growth of 2.44 million bpd in 2023, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said in a monthly report. Both forecasts were unchanged from last month.
A lifting of pandemic lockdowns in China has helped oil demand rise in 2023. OPEC has maintained a relatively upbeat view on 2024, seeing stronger demand growth than other forecasters such as the International Energy Agency.
“The ongoing global economic growth is forecast to drive oil demand, especially given the recovery in tourism, air travel and steady driving mobility,” OPEC said in the report. “Pre-COVID-19 levels of total global oil demand will be surpassed in 2023.”
OPEC and its allies, known as OPEC+, began limiting supplies in 2022 to bolster the market. Global benchmark breached $90 a barrel last week for the first time in 2023 after Saudi Arabia and Russia extended voluntary cuts until the end of the year.
Even so, the OPEC report also showed OPEC oil production rose in August driven by a recovery in Iran’s production despite U.S. sanctions remaining in place on Tehran and Saudi Arabia’s voluntary cuts.
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