OPEC Forecasts Slow Global Oil Demand in 2023

World oil demand growth will slow in 2023, OPEC delegates and industry sources have said.

This is expected as surging crude and fuel prices help drive up inflation and act as a drag on the global economy.

Fuel use has rebounded from the 2020 pandemic-induced slump and is set to exceed 2019 levels this year even as prices hit record highs.

But high prices have eaten into growth projections for 2022 and fed into expectations for slower growth in 2023.

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is expected to publish its first forecast for 2023 demand in July 2022.

Its forecast, along with that of the Paris-based International Energy Agency, will be watched closely for pointers on how OPEC supply policy might develop.

Reuters/Hauwa Abu