- 2023 world oil demand growth forecast raised to 2.46 mil bpd (previously 2.44 mil bpd)
- 2024 world oil demand growth forecast unchanged at 2.25 mil bpd
- 2023, 2024 world economic growth forecasts unchanged
The bloc says that global oil market fundamentals remain strong despite “exaggerated negative sentiments”. Adding that despite overblown pessimism towards China’s oil demand performance, Chinese crude imports remain “very healthy”. On prices, OPEC says that while it has trended lower in recent weeks, it is mainly driven by speculative behaviour. Now, that’s something we are accustomed to hearing over the years i.e. when prices go up, it is because of fundamentals and when prices go down, it is because of speculation.