(Bloomberg) – The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said in its monthly oil market report that it will closely monitor oil in the coming months to ensure a “healthy and sustainable market balance” during an expected surge in demand. He said it was necessary to do so.
The producer group maintained its bullish outlook on global oil demand growth this year, forecasting an annual increase of 2.7 million barrels per day in the third quarter. In recent days, a number of key players in the market have said that oil consumption appears to be higher than expected, prompting warnings that oil prices could hit $100 this summer.
“Given the strong summer oil demand outlook, the market needs to be closely monitored,” the Vienna-based OPEC secretariat said in a report. Production cut participants “remain vigilant, proactive and ready to act in response to market demands, if necessary.”
The world's biggest commodity traders are increasingly confident the oil market will be bullish heading into the second half of the year after oil prices topped $90 a barrel for the first time in months.
Vitol Group CEO Russell Hardy said this week that the company expects growth of 1.9 million barrels per day this year, closer to OPEC's own forecast of an annual increase of 2.2 million barrels. said. This would be similar to consumption growth in 2023, when demand was still recovering from the pandemic.
OPEC left most of its demand forecast unchanged, but revised down its non-OPEC+ supply growth rate for this year by about 100,000 barrels per day to 1.2 million barrels per day, effectively boosting the group's own demand for crude oil. .
OPEC and its allies have voluntarily cut production by about 2 million barrels a day, a move they will consider at their next meeting on June 1.
