By Alex Lawler
LONDON (Reuters) – OPEC on Thursday said there was upside potential to its already robust forecast for world oil demand in 2022 as the global economy posts a strong recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and sectors like tourism benefit.
The upbeat view from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries comes as oil prices have reached the highest since 2014. Tight supply has given impetus to the rally, and OPEC’s report also showed the group undershot a pledged oil-output rise in January.
In a monthly report, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said it expected world oil demand to rise by 4.15 million barrels per day (bpd) this year, unchanged from its forecast last month.
“Upside potential to the forecast prevails, based on an ongoing observed strong economic recovery with the GDP already reaching pre-pandemic levels,” the OPEC report said in a commentary on the 2022 demand outlook.
“As most world economies are expected to grow stronger, the near-term prospects for world oil demand are certainly on the bright side,” OPEC said in a separate comment on 2022 demand.
World consumption is expected to surpass the 100 million bpd mark in the third quarter, in line with last month’s forecast. On an annual basis according to OPEC, the world last used more than 100 million bpd of oil in 2019.
OPEC and its allies, known as OPEC+, are gradually unwinding record output cuts put in place last year. At its last meeting, the group agreed to boost monthly output by 400,000 bpd in March.
The report showed OPEC output in January rose by just 64,000 bpd to 27.98 million bpd, undershooting the 254,000 bpd rise that OPEC is allowed under the deal.
(Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
