“The IEA’s forecast of an upcoming peak in demand for oil, gas, and coal remains unchanged, even as its forecasts for clean energy deployment have been revised upwards yet again. With electric vehicle sales and renewable capacity additions breaking records fossil fuels are looking increasingly obsolete.
Global oil demand growth continues to decelerate, with first-half 2024 gains of 800,000 b/d year-over-year (y-o-y) being the lowest since 2020, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA)’s September issue Oil Market Monthly Report.
Oil prices rose sharply after the American Petroleum Institute reported a significant drop in US oil inventories.
Lower-than-expected producer price inflation boosted hopes for a Federal Reserve rate cut.
Oil prices had been under pressure before the API report, with the IEA and OPEC warning of slowing demand next year.
India is set to launch its tenth bidding round for oil and gas blocks in August or September, the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) has said. The latest round will include 25 blocks across 13 sedimentary basins, which are essential for exploration and production activities.
The IEA predicts a future oil supply glut due to electric vehicles and rising non-OPEC+ production.
Past predictions of oil decline have been inaccurate, such as Bloomberg’s forecast of a crash in 2023.
The IEA’s current prediction relies on assumptions that may not hold true.
Crude oil prices looked set for a weekly gain earlier today, as market players turned optimistic about demand despite conflicting signals from OPEC and the IEA.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) agreed on Sunday to extend their voluntary production cuts of 2.2 million barrels of crude oil per day into 2025.
The Cop28 UN climate summit in December secured agreement from almost 200 nations to “transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems in a just, orderly and equitable manner” – a decision hailed by world leaders as “historic”.
PetroChina’s contract to develop the Nahr bin Umar gas field follows the takeover by PetroChina of ExxonMobil’s operator role in the giant West Qurna 1 field.
For China, Iraq’s gas sector is not just potentially massive but is also highly connected to its equally potentially huge oil sector.
Around 70 percent of Iraq’s gas reserves are ‘associated’ with oil fields, and the majority of these fields are located in the southeast of Iraq.
China’s oil imports reached 11.28 million bpd in the previous year, an 11% increase from
2022, driven by strong fuel demand at home and abroad.
Domestic crude oil production in China also hit a record, totaling 208 million tons for the year, averaging 4.2 million barrels per day.
China’s substantial oil storage activities and fuel exports, particularly to Europe post-Russian embargo, highlight both domestic and international demand dynamics.