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OPEC further slashes world oil demand forecast

13 February 2009 16:24 (UTC +04:00)

Bakuâ€“ APA-Economics. World oil demand will contract more sharply than expected this year due to the economic crisis, OPEC said on Friday, an outlook that may bolster the case for further supply cuts, Reuters reported.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said global demand will fall by 580,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2009 to average 85.13 million bpd. Its previous forecast was for demand to contract by 180,000 bpd.
"World oil demand continues its steep decline from last year and is expected to follow this strong negative pattern at least for the first three quarters of the year," OPEC said in its Monthly Oil Market Report.
Still, OPEC’s prediction of falling demand is less severe than that of the International Energy Agency, adviser to consuming countries, which said on Wednesday that consumption in 2009 would fall by 980,000 bpd.
"The high and growing stock levels -- particularly for crude oil -- are likely to continue to disrupt the overall stability of the market," said the OPEC report, which is written by OPEC’s economists.