World oil demand ‘will rebound to pre-Covid levels by end of 2022’

World oil demand ‘will rebound to pre-Covid levels by end of 2022’

The world's demand for oil will rebound to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2022, as recovering economies require oil-producing countries to pump more fossil fuels, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and their allies, including Russia, collectively known as Opec+, will need to “open the taps to keep the world oil markets adequately supplied”, the global energy watchdog said in its monthly oil report.

Oil demand is expected to bounce back by 5.4m barrels a day this year, one of the fastest climbs on record, and by a further 3.1m in 2022, pushing consumption of crude above 100m for the first time by the end of next year, the IEA said.