Oil prices continue to recover. On Thursday, a barrel of WTI reached the level of 71.3 dollars.
At the beginning of the week, oil markets fell by almost 7% after the decision of OPEC+ to extend the deal until the end of 2022, as well as to increase production by 400,000 barrels per day every month from August 2021. Now prices are rising for the third trading session in a row.
The raw materials markets were supported by good statistics from the Energy Information Administration, which showed a decrease in gasoline and distillate stocks in the United States. In addition, there is a recovery in demand for risky assets on global markets, despite the continuing threats of a new wave of the pandemic, and oil was no exception in this case.
This week, OPEC also presented the first forecast for 2022. It assumes an increase in the average annual global oil consumption by 3.3 million barrels per day. Demand in the OECD countries will grow by 1.5 million barrels per day due to growth in the Americas. Demand in the US will be only slightly below the level of 2019, mainly due to low demand in the transport sector. Demand for oil in non-OECD countries will grow by 1.8 million barrels per day. In China and India, the growing dynamics will continue, the growth will be 500,000 and 300,000 million barrels per day, respectively, and will be supported by consumption in the petrochemical and transport sectors.
The forecast assumes the continuation of the growth of the WTI oil price to the levels of 71.50, 71.75 and 72 dollars per barrel.