OPEC cut its 2024 global oil demand growth forecast for a fifth straight month and by the largest amount yet, a series of downgrades that highlights China's sputtering role as the world's demand growth engine.
The weaker outlook underlines the challenge facing OPEC+, which includes Russia. OPEC+ earlier this month delayed its plan to start raising output until April 2025 against a backdrop of falling prices.
In a monthly report, OPEC said it expected 2024 global oil demand to rise by 1.61-million barrels per day (bpd), down from 1.82-million bpd last month. Opec also cut its 2025 growth estimate to 1.45-million bpd from 1.54-million bpd.
The 210,000 bpd cut in the 2024 figure is the largest of the five reductions made in its monthly reports since August. In July, OPEC had expected world demand to rise by 2.25-million bpd.
“The bulk of this revision is made in the third quarter, taking into account recently received bearish data for the third quarter,” OPEC said in the report of the 2024 forecast.
