Global Oil Demand to Exceed Pre-Pandemic Levels Next Year, OPEC Says

Global Oil Demand to Exceed Pre-Pandemic Levels Next Year, OPEC Says

The world’s thirst for oil will exceed pre-pandemic levels next year, with improving vaccination rates and increasing public confidence in governments’ management of Covid-19 spurring a recovery in travel, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said Monday.

In its closely watched monthly market report, OPEC raised its forecast for global oil demand for 2022 by just under a million barrels a day to 100.8 million barrels a day, higher than 2019’s demand level of 100.3 million barrels. OPEC had previously forecast a return to 2019 demand levels in the second half of next year, but Monday’s report was the first time the cartel said it expects a return to pre-Covid-19 levels for the full year.