Despite the third successive downward revision, OPEC said this year's world oil demand growth is "still well above the historical average of 1.4 million bpd seen before the COVID-19 pandemic."
VIENNA, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on Monday further trimmed forecasts for global oil demand growth this year and next, marking the organization's downward revision for the third consecutive month.
In its monthly oil market report for October, OPEC projected a global oil demand growth of 1.93 million barrels per day (bpd) for 2024, down 106,000 bpd from the growth of 2.03 million bpd expected last month.
OPEC attributed the adjustment to "actual data received combined with slightly lower expectations for the oil demand performance in some regions."
Despite the third successive downward revision, OPEC said this year's world oil demand growth is "still well above the historical average of 1.4 million bpd seen before the COVID-19 pandemic."
For next year, the oil-producer group cut its 2025 global oil demand growth estimate to 1.64 million bpd from last month's assessment of 1.74 million bpd.
OPEC twice lowered its forecasts for global oil demand growth in 2024 and 2025 in its monthly market reports published in August and September. Until August, OPEC had maintained its global oil demand growth forecasts of 2.25 million bpd this year and 1.85 million bpd next year since they were first made in July last year.
Last month, eight member countries of OPEC+, a group comprising OPEC and its allies, announced an extension of their voluntary oil production cuts by two months until November. The countries will start to gradually phase out these output cuts from December. ■