Opec has stuck to its 2023 growth projection for oil demand, although the oil producers’ group has slightly lowered its forecast for regions other than China.
Oil demand in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries was lowered due to economic headwinds, which was offset by improvement in Chinese demand growth projects.
“Minor upward adjustments were made due to the better-than-expected performance in China’s economy, while other regions are expected to see slight declines, due to economic challenges that are likely to weigh on oil demand,” Opec said in its monthly market report on Thursday.
The world crude demand growth forecast for 2023 “remains the same as [the] previous month’s assessment” at 2.3 million barrels per day with the OECD countries increasing by 0.07 million bpd and non-OECD countries growth at close to 2.3 million bpd, Opec said.
China, the world’s second-largest economy and top crude importer, reopened its borders in January after enforcing a strict zero-Covid policy for about three years.
The Asian country is aiming for gross domestic product growth of 5 per cent this year, after growing by 3 per cent last year.
China's March purchasing managers' index showed that the manufacturing sector declined slightly, but is still within the expansionary trajectory at 50 points, slightly below 51.56 points in February.
Similarly, the March services PMI shows that the services sector is performing very well, moving up to 57.8 points in the month, from 55 in February and reflecting the reopening of the country from lockdown, Opec said citing the latest data.
