The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has stuck with its forecast that world oil demand will exceed pre-pandemic levels in 2022, although the producer group said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and developments around the coronavirus pandemic pose a considerable risk. The Organization forecasted that global oil demand is set to climb to 101.8 million barrels per day (BPD) in the second half.
In a monthly report released on Tuesday, OPEC maintained its forecast that world oil demand would rise by 3.36 million BPD in 2022, extending a recovery from 2020’s slump.
“Looking ahead, current geopolitical developments and the uncertain roll-out of the pandemic toward the end of the second half of the year continue to pose a considerable risk to the forecast recovery to pre-pandemic levels,” OPEC said in the report.
The report added “Inflationary pressures are likely to persist and it remains highly uncertain as to when geopolitical issues may be resolved. Nevertheless, oil demand is forecast at healthy levels in the second half of this year.”
According to OPEC, the average daily demand for oil would increase by 3.1 percent to 101.8 million barrels in the second half of this year from 98.7 million barrels in the first half of 2022.
On the supply side, OPEC revised Russia’s liquids production for 2022 revised down 250,000 BPD. The U.S. liquids supply growth forecast for 2022 remains marginally unchanged at 1.3 million BPD.
