PARIS – Global oil demand is expected to grow slower than previously forecast this year as the spread of Covid-19’s Delta variant has prompted lockdowns in major consuming countries, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said today.
Demand surged in June as mobility increased in North America and Europe.
But it “abruptly reversed course” last month as the Delta variant undermined deliveries in China, Indonesia and other parts of Asia, the IEA said in a monthly report.
“The outlook for the remainder of the year has also been appreciably downgraded due to the worsening of the pandemic and revisions to historical data,” the report said.
“New Covid-19 restrictions imposed in several major oil-consuming countries, particularly in Asia, are set to reduce mobility and oil use.”
The agency now forecasts demand rising by 5.3 million barrels per day this year, totalling up to 96.2 million barrels per day. That is down 300,000 barrels per day from its previous estimations.
Global output, meanwhile, is expected to rise further after the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) group of major oil producers and its allies agreed to boost production, the IEA said.
With US petrol prices rising, the White House complained yesterday that the production increase by the Opec+ group was “simply not enough” to fuel the global economic recovery from the pandemic. – AFP, August 12, 2021
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