OPEC is forecasting an upturn in global economic growth in the second half of the year, and has adjusted upwards – albeit slightly – earlier forecasts for the Call on its crude over this period. Lingering signs of fragility in the global economy however could yet upset the balance in the global oil market, and potentially derail any kind of anticipated recovery.
At 780,000 b/d, projected 2013 world oil demand growth remained largely unchanged from OPEC’s last Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR). “A number of factors are driving these developments,” notes the latest edition of the MOMR, adding: “particularly the falling share of winter fuels in total oil demand, as a result of increasing fuel substitution by natural gas. Growing use of air conditioning in the summer…has also pushed third quarter demand higher.” (CONTINUED - 888 WORDS)
