2021 forecast for global demand for OPEC crude hiked to 27.5 million bpd (previous forecast 27.2 million bpd)
Global oil demand growth forecast has been revised to 5.79 million barrels per day (bpd) from 5.9 million bpd, wrote the latest monthly report by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
According to the report, oil demand is forecasted to pick up in the second half of 2021, adding "Global economy is showing signs of a healthy recovery in 2021 but oil demand is currently lagging."
Overall non-OPEC supply growth forecast for 2021 was lowered to 670,000 bpd (previous forecast 850,000 bpd). OPEC oil output rose 180,000 bpd in January to 25.50 million bpd, it added.
2021 forecast for global demand for OPEC crude hiked to 27.5 million bpd (previous forecast 27.2 million bpd).
While the pandemic continues to dominate world economic developments, prospects for improvements in the containment of COVID-19 are rising, said OPEC.
It predicted that economic activity would "significantly gain pace" by the end of June 2021, as the impact of the pandemic would taper off, and the momentum is expected to be supported by pent-up demand, especially in the contact-intensive services sectors like tourism, leisure and hospitality.
Nonetheless, numerous challenges still remain, including COVID-19 variants and the effectiveness of vaccines against these mutations, it added.
Moreover, sovereign debt in most economies has risen to levels at which an increase in interest rates could cause severe fiscal strain, according to the report.
