On April 2, OPEC+ producers announced new production target cuts, which have contributed to the increase in oil prices from below $80 to around $87 a barrel.
Despite downside risks to summer oil demand, the producer group has maintained its forecast for global oil demand growth in 2023, according to its monthly report released on Thursday.
OPEC stated that global oil demand will increase by 2.32 million barrels per day (bpd), or 2.3%, which is consistent with the previous month’s forecast.
However, the usual seasonal demand uptick in the US could be affected by potential economic weakness resulting from interest rate hikes, and the reopening of China has not reversed the declining trend in global refinery intakes of crude.
In the report, it also pointed out that challenges to global economic development could arise due to high inflation, monetary tightening, stability of financial markets, and high debt levels.
Furthermore, OPEC’s oil production in March fell by 86,000 bpd to 28.80 million bpd, reflecting the impact of earlier output cuts pledged by OPEC+ to support the market as well as some unplanned outages.
