LONDON: Opec yesterday trimmed its forecast for global growth in oil demand in 2013, becoming the second of the world’s closely watched oil forecasters this week to predict weaker consumption.
The move by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in a monthly report follows a similar downward revision to oil demand growth in 2013 by the U S Energy Information Administration on Tuesday.
Opec now expects world oil demand will rise by 800,000 barrels per day (bpd) this year, a cut of 40,000bpd from the previous estimate. It cited weaker-than-expected oil use in developed economies, particularly Europe and Japan.
“Monthly data that is starting to emerge for the first quarter of 2013 suggests that OECD demand may be disappointing compared with our previous assessment,” said the report by economists at Opec’s Vienna headquarters. Opec, the source of more than a third of the world’s oil, has been flagging the prospect that demand may prove weaker than expected due to the euro zone’s economic problems and uncertainties about U S economy.
Reuters
