DUBAI (Reuters) – OPEC+ has lowered its 2021 oil demand growth forecast by 300,000 barrels per day reflecting concerns about the market’s recovery amid a wave of new coronavirus lockdowns, a report from its experts panel meeting seen by Reuters showed.
The Joint Technical Committee, which advises the group of oil-producing nations that includes Saudi Arabia and Russia, met on Tuesday ahead of a ministerial meeting on Thursday to decide output policy.
“Despite the ongoing destocking of commercial OECD stocks, they remain above the 2015-2019 average, while recognising that prevailing volatility in the market structure is a signal of fragile market conditions,” the panel said in the report.
Under its base case scenario, it now expects oil demand to grow by 5.6 million barrels per day this year, down by 300,000 bpd from its previous forecast.
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