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Despite the ongoing concerns about the state of the global economy, OPEC continues to hold an upbeat view on world oil demand, OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais said on Tuesday.
“The economy, despite the challenges, is still doing quite well,” Al Ghais told the Argus European Crude Conference in London, as carried by Bloomberg.
“We are positive on demand, we’re still quite robust on demand.”
Al Ghais was the keynote speaker at the conference and expressed optimism about global oil demand less than three weeks before the ministers of the oil producers in the OPEC+ alliance meet in the weekend of November 25-26 for a key production policy decision.
Saudi Arabia and Russia have extended their voluntary production and export cuts, respectively, until the end of the year.
The two leaders of the OPEC+ group could decide or announce at the OPEC+ ministerial meeting whether they would extend, deepen, wind down, or end their cuts in 2024.
Saudi Arabia said on Sunday it would continue with its extra voluntary production cut of 1 million barrels per day (bpd) in December and will pump around 9 million bpd next month, as it has been doing since July.
Russia also confirmed this weekend it would keep oil exports lower until 300,000 bpd by the end of the year.
Commenting on the next OPEC+ ministerial meeting at the end of this month, OPEC’s Al Ghais said today, “All I can say for now is we continue to monitor supply and demand fundamentals on a daily basis.”
“When the ministers meet in Vienna at the end of this month they will review all of this and take appropriate measures.”
In its latest monthly report in October, OPEC left its demand forecast for both 2023 and 2024 unchanged, despite fears of slowing economies and demand destruction. Global oil demand is set to rise by 2.4 million bpd this year and by another 2.2 million bpd next year amid the improving Chinese economy, according to the cartel.
