IEA Slightly Downgrades Forecast For 2021 Oil Demand Growth To 5.4 Mbd

The International Energy Agency (IEA) in a report on Thursday slightly downgraded forecast for oil demand growth in 2021 by 0.2 million barrels a day (mb/d) to 5.4 mb/d as the new COVID-19 strains are expected to have an impact on mobility

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th February, 2021) The International Energy Agency (IEA) in a report on Thursday slightly downgraded forecast for oil demand growth in 2021 by 0.2 million barrels a day (mb/d) to 5.4 mb/d as the new COVID-19 strains are expected to have an impact on mobility.

"Our global oil demand growth forecast is largely unchanged in this month's Report at 5.4 mb/d in 2021. Consumption will reach 96.4 mb/d, thus recovering around 60% of the volume lost to the pandemic in 2020 ... we revised down our global demand estimates following adjustments to historical baseline data, with both 2020 and 2021 reduced by nearly 200,000 barrels a day," the IEA said in a report.

The IEA remains cautious about the oil demand in the first quarter of 2021 as the new strains of the COVID-19 virus are expected to impact mobility across the globe, thus bringing the demand down.�

"For this reason, we have revised down our 1Q21 forecast by 100 kb/d, with demand now expected to decline by 110 kb/d year-on-year (y-o-y), to 93.7 mb/d. This represents a 1 mb/d decline from 4Q20's already low levels," the report read.

However, the world oil demand should accelerate growth in the third and fourth quarters of this year, but the forecast remains uncertain as it largely depends on the success of the vaccination problems, among other factors, the agency noted.