Global oil demand to fall in 2019 on economic slowdown: OPEC

OPEC on Thursday forecast a slight fall in 2019 world oil demand amid trade wars and slowdowns in major economies.

The organization revised its world oil demand growth forecast down by 40,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 980,000 bpd.

OPEC said the change was in response to the latest data from OECD Americas and the Asia-Pacific.

The organization also revised down its 2020 global GDP forecast to 3 percent from 3.1 percent.

“Among other issues, it seems increasingly likely that the slowing growth momentum in the US will carry over into 2020, while ongoing uncertainties surrounding the EU, including Brexit, will remain,” the report said.

“Moreover, rising US tariffs on EU imports and ongoing US-China trade issues are dampening growth momentum,” the report added.

According to the report, OPEC’s September crude oil production fell to 28.49 mb/d, from 29.81 mb/d in August. Last month’s attacks on two key oil installations in Saudi Arabia knocked off five percent of the global crude supply, which has since been restored by the OPEC leader.

Oil prices surged nearly 20 percent following the incident, but sharply retracted the day after, which according to OPEC indicates that money managers were more “cautious amid high uncertainty regarding the global economy, oil demand and the ongoing trade dispute between US and China.”

OPEC expects demand for its crude to rise in 2019 and 2020.

For 2019, the OPEC crude demand forecast has been revised up by 100,000 bpd to 30.7 mb/d. In the coming year, demand for OPEC crude will stand at 29.6 mb/d, which is 200,000 barrels higher than the organization’s previous forecast.