Dubai: OPEC stuck to its forecast for a strong recovery in world oil demand in the rest of 2021 and predicted use would rise further in 2022 similar to pre-pandemic rates, led by growth in China and India.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said in its monthly report that demand next year would rise by 3.4 per cent to 99.86 million barrels per day (bpd), averaging more than 100 million bpd in the second half of 2022.
Oil demand averaged 99.98 million bpd in 2019, according to OPEC.
"In 2022, healthy expectations for global economic growth in addition to improved containment of COVID-19 through the acceleration of vaccination programmes, effective treatment and natural immunisation, particularly in emerging and developing countries, along with frequent testing procedures, are assumed to spur consumption of oil next year to comparable pre-pandemic levels," OPEC said in the report.
Bullish mode
The report reflected OPEC's confidence that world demand would recover robustly from the pandemic, allowing the group and its allies to further ease record supply curbs made in 2020.
Some analysts had seen oil demand peaking in 2019. OPEC also maintained its prediction that demand would grow by 5.95 million bpd in 2021.
