Opec cuts 2020 demand forecast by a third amid Coronavirus worries
Opec slashed forecasts for global oil demand as coronavirus hits fuel use in China, leaving the group facing a renewed glut despite its recent production cuts.
The cartel reduced projections for demand growth in the first quarter by 440,000 barrels a day, or about a third, in its monthly report. Oil prices sank to a one-year low on Monday as the infection leaves businesses idle and millions quarantined in the world’s biggest crude importer.
Oil’s slump has spurred the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (Opec’s) biggest exporter, Saudi Arabia, to press fellow members and allies to hold an emergency meeting and consider new output cutbacks. Yet the proposal has so far met resistance from Russia, the group’s most important ally, which is able to weather lower prices more easily.
