BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 14. The growth of world oil reserves in 2022 shows a clear transition from deficit to surplus of 1.1 million barrels per day (mb/d) in the oil market in the third quarter of 2022, Trend reports via monthly oil outlook from OPEC.
According to the reports, global oil inventory levels in the first quarter of 2022 continued with decline since late 2020, as total oil demand exceeded world oil supply by 0.3 mb/d.
However, this trend was overturned in the second and the third quarters of the current year, as global oil supply surpassed total oil demand by 0.2 mb/d and 1.1 mb/d, respectively, OPEC noted.
“During the first three quarters of this year, the observed global oil stock build reflected that the global oil market saw a supply surplus of around 0.3 mb/d vis-à-vis total world oil demand. This supply surplus was confirmed by low crude refinery runs, which are an indicator of oil demand performance,” the report added.
As OPEC explained, the fall in oil demand came amid a weakening of economic activity caused by rising inflation, tightening of monetary policy by major central banks, intensification of geopolitical tensions, tightening labor markets and additional supply chain restrictions.
Considerable uncertainty about the world economy, coupled with fears of a global recession, helps to reduce the risk of global oil demand growth slowing, the report said.
“In addition, China’s strict adherence to the “zero COVID-19 policy” adds to this uncertainty, making the country’s recovery path even more unpredictable. To address this significant uncertainty and heightened market volatility, the proactive and preemptive decisions taken by the OPEC and non-OPEC producing countries in the Declaration of Cooperation (DoC) will continue to contribute to global oil market stability,” OPEC added.
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