OPEC trimmed its forecasts for oil demand growth this year and next for a third consecutive month as the group belatedly recognizes a slowdown in global fuel use.
Global oil consumption will increase by 1.9 million barrels a day — roughly 2% — in 2024, or 106,000 barrels a day less than previously forecast, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said in its monthly report. The revision was “largely due to actual data received combined with slightly lower expectations” for some regions, it said.
With the three successive downgrades, OPEC is starting to retreat from the strongly bullish projections it has held throughout this year. Even after the reductions, its demand estimates remain an outlier — above Wall Street banks and trading houses, and at the top end of the range expected by Saudi Arabia’s oil company, Aramco. It’s roughly double the rate seen the International Energy Agency.
The actions of OPEC members themselves suggest a lack of confidence in the outlook of its Vienna-based secretariat, delaying their plans to restore halted crude production even as the cartel’s forecasts point to a major supply deficit.
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