The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) has lowered its previously published demand level for global oil next year on the back of weakening economic activity in both the US and China.
The body, which collects and assesses energy information for better policymaking, has said global oil demand is expected to grow by 1.2 million barrels per day (mbbl/d) to 104.3mbbl/d in 2025, a fall of 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) compared with previous forecasts.
The agency also said on Tuesday that demand for the rest of 2024 would fall by around 20,000bpd, to sit at just over 103mbbl/d.
In its Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) report, the information body said the downgrades were based on China’s lessening import levels and refinery reductions, with estimates of weakening industrial production in North America also playing a part.
In August, Offshore Technology reported that Russia’s supplies of crude oil to China in July fell by 7.4% on the year as slowing demand within the Asian nation limited purchases by refiners.
Oil deliveries via pipelines and tankers hit 7.46 million tonnes (mt), according to figures from the General Administration of Customs (GACC), a ministry-level administrative agency responsible for tax collection in China.
The June figure, as reported by a US media outlet, was just over 2mbbl/d, while the July 2023 figure was 1.9mbbl/d.
In September, the EIA forecast that oil prices for Brent crude, one of the most traded benchmarks, will climb above $80/bbl for the month, with the body anticipating that OPEC+ production cuts will decrease global oil reserves as global consumption is expected to outstrip global production.
