Thursday, July 15, 2021

OPEC: Crude oil prices hit their highest level since 2018 in June

 Crude oil prices rose today, Thursday, by 7.4% during last June, which is the largest increase since October 2018, according to a report issued by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).



The organization said in its monthly report that the price of its reference basket of services rose by about $5 a barrel (7.4%) during June, driven by the increase in futures markets and a rise in crude oil.


The report indicated that crude prices continued to rise for the second month in a row, to settle at an average price of $71.89 a barrel, noting that it is the highest average since October 2018.


The organization added that investors expressed increasing optimism last June about the expectations of a recovery in global demand for oil.


The report pointed out that global growth expectations will remain at 5.5% during the current year, indicating that it may decline to 4.1% during the next year.


The future global growth is still affected by a number of uncertainties; Among them, the outbreak of new mutations from the Corona virus, and the pace of global vaccine introduction, while sovereign debt levels in many countries, along with inflationary pressures and central bank responses, remain among the main factors that require close monitoring of global market developments.


The report did not rule out a rise in growth with the spread of measures to contain the virus, in addition to fiscal and monetary stimulus plans, which leads to more gains in consumption and investments, which is reflected in the increase in energy demand.


And "OPEC" expected the growth of global demand for oil this year by 6 million barrels per day, unchanged from last month's assessment, so that the average total demand for oil is 96.6 million barrels.


It also forecast total global oil demand to reach 99.86 million barrels per day, with the 100 million barrels per day mark to be crossed in the second half of 2022.


Preliminary forecasts for next year indicate a growth in non-OPEC oil supply by 2.1 million barrels per day.


OPEC's production of crude oil rose last June by 590,000 barrels per day, to reach 26.3 million barrels per day, while the demand for the organization's crudes during the current year remained unchanged at 27.7 million barrels per day, an increase of 5 million barrels per day from 2020.


The report expected that demand for “OPEC” crudes during the next year would reach 82.7 million barrels per day, an increase of 1.1 million barrels per day from the level of 2021, based on the initial expectations of demand.

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