OPEC lowers its demand growth forecasts for 2024 and 2025

LONDON (Reuters) – OPEC has revised downwards its forecasts for growth in global oil demand for 2024 and 2025, for the fifth consecutive month, citing in particular weak demand in China and India.

This new downward revision of the outlook highlights the challenge now facing OPEC+, which includes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies such as Russia.

OPEC+ had already announced on December 5 that it had postponed its plan to increase oil production by three months to April, due to weak demand and the increase in supply from other producers.

OPEC said Wednesday it now expects global oil demand this year to increase by 1.61 million barrels per day (bpd), a slowdown from its forecast of 1.82 million barrels per day (bpd). bpj announced last month.

Before that, OPEC had kept its outlook for this year unchanged until August.

The organization also reduced its estimate for global oil demand growth for 2025 to 1.45 million bpd, from 1.54 million bpd previously.

(Reporting by Alex Lawler, French version by Claude Chendjou, edited by Kate Entringer)