OPEC on Thursday cut its forecast for growth in world oil demand in 2022 for a second straight month, citing the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, rising inflation and the resurgence of the Omicron coronavirus variant in China.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said in a monthly report that world demand will increase by 3.36 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2022 from its forecast by 310,000 barrels of war. The Ukraine trajectory came as March oil prices briefly pushed $139 a barrel to their highest level from 2008, worsening inflationary pressures.
OPEC is believed to be facing the biggest shock from 2020, the tight locks of COVID, the one on oil. “Demand in 2022 is expected to be affected by the ongoing geopolitical process in Eastern Europe and the detailed COVID-19 pandemic restrictions,” the OPEC report said. Still, OPEC is still waiting to learn the limits of the game 3rd game of world use 100 million barrels and the pre-pandemic 2019 training of 2022.