The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries on Monday revised oil demand upwards following the progress in COVID-19 vaccination campaigns globally.
OPEC Secretary-General, Mohammad Barkindo, disclosed the review for the upward demand for oil while delivering his opening remarks at the 52nd meeting of the Joint Technical Committee during a video conference.
He said, “In terms of the oil market, a few developments are noteworthy. Largely as a result of the progress of the vaccination campaigns in certain regions, the secretariat has now revised up our global economic growth forecast for 2021, by 0.1 point to reach 5.5 per cent year-on-year.
“World oil demand is expected to increase by six million barrels per day in 2021, unchanged from last month’s estimate, to average 96.5 mb/d.
“Non-OPEC liquids production for 2021 is revised down by 0.2mb/d month-on-month, and is forecast to grow by 0.7mb/d.”
Commenting on investments in the oil sector, Barkindo said the topic had regularly shaped the sector-wide discourse and received added prominence this month, courtesy of the International Energy Agency.
He said, “There is much to digest in their report entitled, ‘Net zero by 2050,’ but their call for energy groups to stop all new oil and gas exploration projects by 2050 may have an impact on an investing climate already severely affected by board-member activism.
“Questions remain as to the impact that a 75 per cent reduction in global oil demand would have on the development of emerging economies.”
He noted that while the IEA had acknowledged that continued investment in existing sources of oil production was needed, the ramifications of its report on policy makers required careful monitoring.
