That OPEC’s spare oil production capacity was a problem that was only going to get worse with time became clear last year when the first reports began to emerge that the cartel and its partners led by Russia are not adding as much oil to their monthly output as agreed. Now, the gap between commitment and output has deepened, adding fuel to an already strong price rally.
In December, OPEC+ added 253,000 barrels daily to its combined production falling well short of its 400,000-bpd target for yet another month in a growing row. Naturally, this fueled concern about the security of global supply amid forecasts from the International Energy Agency that oil demand is going to exceed pre-pandemic levels later this year.
This latest forecast could be confusing to many who follow the agency’s output. In December, the IEA said that oil demand growth was going to slow down this year. It also forecasted a possible oversupply on the oil market for the current quarter, citing the effect of the Omicron variant on fuel consumption and rising non-OPEC production.
To be fair, the agency noted the oversupply would materialize if several things happen, among them, Saudi Arabia and Russia pumping at record rates as “remaining OPEC+ cuts are fully unwound.” Yet it appears to have greatly underestimated the resilience and strength of demand. No wonder a lot of other forecasters are talking about oil reaching and topping $100 per barrel.
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