OPEC cuts oil demand forecasts for fourth straight month

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has lowered its outlook for oil demand this year for the fourth straight month after pushing back a scheduled production increase as prices slumped.

OPEC said on Tuesday that oil demand is now tipped to increase by 1.8m barrels of oil per day (bpd) over 2024, down from the previous estimate of 1.93m bpd, and 1.54m bpd in 2025, down from an earlier forecast of 1.64m bpd.

This marked the fourth time since August that the cartel has cut its demand forecasts.

This month's revision is mainly due to updated data for the first three quarters of the year, the cartel said in a statement, with China being the chief reason for the cut, with 2024 growth estimates revised to 450,000bpd from 580,000bpd previously.

OPEC said China's diesel use in particular has been weak in recent months: "Diesel has been under pressure from a slowdown in construction amid weak manufacturing activity, combined with the ongoing deployment of LNG-fuelled trucks."