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Based on these data, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) stated that it has slightly revised upwards (by 20,000 barrels per day) its forecast for the whole year, now pointing to an average of 102.11 million barrels per day (mbd), an increase of 2.45% compared to 2022.
“The global demand for oil continues to demonstrate strength and resilience, with better than expected growth in the fourth quarter of 2023,” OPEC says in its monthly report on the global oil market.
The main contributors to this growth are China and India, with increases of 7.6% (to 16 mbd) and 4.5% (to 5.4 mbd), respectively, compared to the previous year.
Latin America also recorded a solid increase of 3.7% over the year, but its oil demand remains modest compared to other regions (6.7 mbd), according to the report. In Western Europe, OPEC recorded a decline in consumption to 13.4 mbd, down 0.4% from last year.
For 2024, the organization’s analysts anticipate average consumption of 104.31 million barrels per day, 2.2% above the forecast for this year.
Based on these data, forecasts indicate that the world economy will grow by 2.8% in 2023 and 2.6% in the following year.
The price of OPEC’s reference barrel dropped to 87.11 dollars after having reached over 97 dollars at the end of September.
The evolution of other types of crude was similar, with Brent (the reference in Europe) and the North American WTI oil trading today at about 81 and 77 dollars per barrel, respectively.
