Vienna (TDI): The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has again downgraded its forecasts for international oil demand growth in 2024 and 2025, marking the group’s lowered revision for the 5th consecutive month.
In its monthly oil market report for December, OPEC expected a global oil demand growth of 1.61 million barrels per day for this year, down about 210,000 bpd from the growth of 1.82 million bpd projected in November.
OPEC attributed the adjustment to updated data for the first 3 quarters of this year, especially the “bearish data” for the third quarter.
Meanwhile, OPEC estimated the global demand in next year growth at 1.45 million bpd, down 90,000 bpd from the assessment in November of 1.54 million bpd.
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However, the organization insisted that the revised prediction still marks “a healthy development level in contrast to pre-Covid averages.”
Since August, the group has already lowered its predictions for oil demand increase in 2024 and in the upcoming year in its reports for 4 months in a row.
OPEC had maintained its international oil demand growth predictions of 2.25 million bpd this year and 1.85 million bpd in 2025 by August.
Oil rates have generally trended lowered in recent weeks due to concerns over lowering global demand and increased supply from producers outside the OPEC+ group.
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Global crude benchmark Brent has traded slightly above $70 per barrel for the previous weeks, down from over eighty dollars in July.
Last week, OPEC+ decided at a ministerial summit to keep their current oil production cuts for the first quarter of 2025.
