Leading oil demand recovery, India presses Opec to clear pricing anomalies

NEW DELHI: India on Thursday asked Opec to remove pricing anomalies for different regions with a view to helping the Corona-battered global oil industry back on its feet, leveraging its emergence as a key driver of demand recovery in recent times.
“It is essential for India and Opec to take a deep look at the rapidly changing global energy landscape, particularly in oil and gas sector, and revisit the ongoing exchanges so that we can jointly address the energy challenges during the ongoing and in the post-Covid scenario,” oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan told the India-Opec energy dialogue.
Pradhan’s remarks were a reminder of the brutal demand destruction and supply chain disruptions caused by the Coronavirus pandemic. As economies began shutting down in through the April-May period, oil demand tanked by 50%, prices sank below zero briefly before barely recovering to $20-plus per barrel level and remained stuck there for months. While crude has recovered to the $40/barrel-mark, prices remain under pressure due to the tepid pace of demand recovery – forcing companies to pull back investments and casting a shadow over projects.