The organization for oil exporting countries (OPEC) raised its oil demand forecast for the first quarter of 2022 and provided guideline to return to pre-pandemic levels of oil use citing omicron would not have much impact compared to other variants.
OPEC+ upbeat tone comes as oil prices recovered after sharply decline when the omicron virus emerged last month.
In its monthly report, the group stated it expects oil demand to average 99.13 million barrels per day (bpd) in the first quarter of 2022 and followed by steady recovery of demand throughout the year.
The report states, “Moreover, the impact of the new Omicron variant is projected to be mild and short lived, as the world becomes better equipped to manage COVID-19 and its related challenges”.
Earlier OPEC and its allies on December 2 decided to stick to a planned increased for January, a gamble that looks to have paid off as prices stabilize.
In the report, OPEC stated its forecast that world oil demand will grow by 4.15 million in 2022. The group also kept this year’s growth forecast unchanged.
World consumption is expected to surpass the 100 million bpd mark in the third quarter of 2022, in line with last month’s forecast. One an annual basis according to OPEC, the world last used over 100 million bpd of oil in 2019.
