LONDON: The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries on Monday lowered its forecast for world oil demand in the second quarter by 500,000 barrels per day, citing the impact of the war in the Middle East, the group’s monthly report showed.
Global oil demand is projected to average 105.07 million bpd in the second quarter, OPEC’s report said, down from the 105.57 million bpd forecast in last month’s report.
“The demand growth for the second quarter of 2026 is revised down for both the OECD and non-OECD, driven mainly by slight transitory weakness in oil demand growth, given ongoing developments in the Middle East,” OPEC said.
However, this weakness is expected to be offset in the second half of the year, it added.
OPEC also said that for the full year, global demand growth is unchanged from its previous estimate.
Russian oil production held broadly steady in March, at 9.167 million bpd, up just 3,000 bpd from February, according to the report.
Russia has managed to keep its oil output stable despite Western sanctions and Ukrainian drone attacks on its energy infrastructure, including main oil exporting outlets in the Baltic and Black Seas.
Russia is the world’s third-largest oil producer after the US and Saudi Arabia. It also holds the world’s largest reserves of natural gas.
OPEC also said Kazakhstan's oil output last month rose further, by 251,000 bpd, to 1.733 million bpd. Kazakhstan oil production rose thanks to a recovery at the Tengiz oilfield, the country’s largest.
