Oil Demand Can Grow To 4,2 Million Daily Barrels By 2022: OPEC

On Wednesday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) monthly oil market report highlighted that world demand for crude oil can grow to 4.2 million barrels per day by 2022 since rising natural gas prices could boost consumption of products derived from it.

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The escalation of gas prices that its scarcity prompted has triggered a growing interest of industrial producers to switch from this product to liquid fuels, such as crude oil.

"If this trend continued, there would be greater demand for energy generation, refining, and the petrochemical use of fuel, diesel, and naphtha," this organization stated," this organization stated. 

The petrol prices have risen to levels not seen in several years, of more than 83 dollars a barrel of the Brent and 80 dollars the Texas intermediate oil (WTI). This situation has also been prompted by the market fundamentals strengthening, a slow resumption of oil production in the US. In the US, demand recovery and relaxation of pandemic-related mobility restrictions in Asia.

As a result, OPEC expects total world oil demand this year to be 96.6 million barrels, which exceeds the 5.96 million barrels expectation in 2020.

Experts assured that the recovery in oil consumption will continue with an annual increase of 4.15 million barrels per day to an average of 100.8 million barrels per day in 2022.

The current pact of the alliance called OPEC+ plans to increase the supply by 400,000 barrels per month until September 2022, and the report suggests that this policy will continue. To this end, the organization will continue to open the albeit moderately and gradually, as agreed with Russia and other allies.