BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 14. Global oil demand is forecast to rise by 2 million barrels per day (mb/d) in 2023 to a record of 101.9 mb/d, Trend reports citing the latest oil market outlook from the International Energy Agency (IEA).
The forecast has been kept unchanged, compared to the previous month's assessment.
At the same time, according to the report, world oil demand growth will gather momentum over the course of 2023, with gains of 2.4 mb/d in the second half of the year ramping up demand to 103.1 mb/d.
Reflecting growing inequality across regions, non-OECD countries, supported by a rebounding China, will account for 90 percent of world oil demand growth in the current year.
"Weighed down by anaemic GDP growth, rising fuel efficiencies and a mild winter in the US and Europe, OECD demand is estimated to have declined by 390,000 b/d year-on-year during 1Q23 – for a second consecutive quarter of lower oil use. Conversely, a resurgent post-lockdown Chinese economy accounts for the bulk of first-quarter non-OECD demand gains of 1.2 mb/d year-on-year," the report said.
As the IEA pointed out, this inequality will decline as the year progresses, now that China’s surge in demand will largely be exhausted, while OECD demand will return to growth as economies recover.