The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) revealed that the recovery in oil demand will be concentrated in the second half of the year, as the impact of the pandemic continues to undermine the support of the organization and its allies to the market. Indicating that demand will rise by 5.89 million barrels per day in 2021, equivalent to 6.5 percent, and a slight increase from the previous month's estimates.
OPEC expected that the total demand for oil will reach 96.3 million barrels per day, and most of the consumption will be in the second half. It also revealed that the growth in demand this year will not be able to compensate for the large deficit in 2020, as restrictions on the movement of individuals are expected to continue throughout 2021.
OPEC raised its forecast for global economic growth this year to 5.1 percent from 4.8 percent, but it expects the pandemic's impact to continue in the first half of the year.
The report also showed a decline in OPEC oil production in February, at a time when most OPEC + members returned to curbing production and Saudi Arabia pledged to cut an additional one million barrels per day in February and March, which it extended last week to the end of April.
OPEC revealed a decrease in its production by 650 thousand to 24.85 million barrels per day, as a result of the Saudi cut. Saudi Arabia told OPEC it had implemented most of the cuts, reducing production by 956,000 bpd reaching to 8.147 million bpd.
Source (Arabic cnbc website, Edited)
