The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) yesterday announced a cut in its global oil demand growth forecast for 2023 over fears of global economic recession.
In its Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) released yesterday, OPEC revised downward, each of its 2022 and 2023 oil demand growth forecasts by 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) from last month’s estimates due to China’s still-strict COVID policy and economic challenges in Europe.
In 2023, OPEC believes economic risks are skewed to the downside but that the resolution of Russia’s war in Ukraine could change that.
The downward review, which is the fifth of such in eight months, the Organisation maintained, comes on the heels of “significant economic uncertainty and China’s zero-Covid policy.”
In spite of its focus on rising challenges, OPEC left its 2022 and 2023 global economic growth forecasts steady. It said, while risks were skewed to the downside, there was also upside potential.