OPEC Keeps Oil Demand Forecasts Unchanged Ahead of December Meeting

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has largely maintained its forecasts for oil demand growth and supply in its latest report, a precursor to its highly-anticipated meeting in December.

In OPEC’s November report, the 12-country producer group kept its forecast for world oil demand growth in 2015, predicting it will rise by 1.5 million barrels per day (mb/d) to average 92.86 mb/d, unchanged from the previous month’s forecast.

In 2016, world oil demand growth is seen reaching 1.25 mb/d, in line with the previous month’s assessment, to average 94.14 mb/d.

The report is the last to come before OPEC’s meeting in Vienna on December 4. There have been few signals that OPEC will decide then to deviate from its strategy of maintaining its production ceiling of 30 million barrels a day – a level it often exceeds — despite the glut in global oil supply and lack of demand. Oil prices have fallen as a result from around $114 last June to below $50 a barrel.

Earlier this week, OPEC’s secretary general signaled that the group, which is led by Saudi Arabia, believed oil prices would recover in 2016 and that was a reason to not cut its output.

via CNBC

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