The organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) revised downwards again the forecasts for the growth of crude oil demand in the world due to the impact of the war in Ukraine and the restrictions due to the pandemic.
The cartel of producing countries projects a rise in the demand of 3.4 million barrels per day (mbd), 0.3 billion dollars less than in the April forecast due to the possibility of lower global GDP growth and the advance of the Omicron variant in China.
In April, OPEC had already cut its forecast by 0.5 mbd regarding the March report.
“Demand growth in the second quarter is projected to be slower at 2.8 mbd compared to 5.2 mbd in the first quarter,” the organization said.
For this year, OPEC expects world demand to reach 100.3 mbd, 0.1 mbd above that of 2019.
The downward forecast of demand for the rest of the year is mainly explained by “current economic forecasts”, added OPEC, which estimates a global growth of 3.5%, compared to an expected expansion of 3.9% in the previous report.