Oil demand recovery to gain momentum in H2 2021 – OPEC

Lagos — The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC,  says global oil demand will recover strongly  in the second half of this year.in its newly published

It said, in its latest monthly publication, that the recovery will be led by the United States and China.

“Overall, the recovery in global economic growth, and hence oil demand, are expected to gain momentum in the second half,” OPEC stated.

It said demand would rise by 6.6% or 5.95 million barrels per day, bpd, this year, unchanged for a second consecutive month.

The report, however, warned of significant uncertainties such as the potential emergence of new variants of the coronavirus.

“Global economic recovery has been delayed due to the resurgence of COVID-19 infections and renewed lockdowns in key economies, including the Eurozone, Japan and India,” the group said in the monthly report.

Although the United States is expected to make the biggest contribution to 2021 demand growth, OPEC said demand in industrialised Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD, nations would not fully recover from the 2020 collapse.

Brent international climbed above $72 a barrel after the report was released.

OPEC sees 2021 world economic growth at 5.5%, unchanged from last month, assuming the impact of the pandemic will have been “largely contained” by the beginning of the second half.

“The ongoing vaccination efforts, growing share of recovered cases leading to increasing herd immunity, and the easing of lockdown restrictions lend optimism that the pandemic could be contained in the few months to come,” OPEC said.