Global oil supplies are slowly catching up with flagging demand for crude, leaving the oil market close to balanced, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) said, suggesting the cartel sees little need in the short term to increase its output further.
The Vienna-based producers’ group cut its forecasts for global oil demand this year by 260,000 barrels to 100.03 million barrels a day, citing the impact of slowing global economies. It also cut its demand forecasts for 2023 by the same amount to 102.72 million barrels a day.
Global economic growth will be weaker than expected both this year and next, as inflation weighs on businesses and consumers and central banks raise interest to cool rising prices, Opec said in its monthly market report released Thursday.
