Predicting oil demand has rarely been more challenging, buffeting prices and muddying the outlook for traders, investors and energy producers.
Energy analysts are mapping out the course of the coronavirus and efforts to stop the pandemic, including limits on flights, cruises and the use of public transportation. They are also grappling with the effects on fuel demand of an economic downturn, rising unemployment, and changing patterns of work, study and travel.
All this has introduced an unusual degree of uncertainty into estimates for how much oil the world will consume in the remainder of 2020. The lack of visibility has contributed to renewed turbulence in the market after prices rose over the summer, buoyed by the return of cars and trucks to the road.
