The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) slashed its estimate for oil demand this year and said it expected sales to stagnate next year, in a forecast Tuesday blaming global economic uncertainty for cutting into the world’s appetite for crude. Updating last month’s forecast, the organisation said that it expected demand to be up by nearly 1 million barrels a day this year. That projected increase will be 180,000 barrels a day less than its previous estimate, it said. For next year, OPEC’s monthly forecast said that estimated growth in world oil demand will fall to a daily 1.2 million barrels. That would leave the global appetite for crude at just over 88 million barrels a day for 2012. “Uncertainty in the world economy has dimmed the picture for 2011, particularly in the OECD region,” said the monthly report referring to the major industrialised nations. But it added that domestic policies in China and India, the two developing countries traditionally driving demand, also are expected to contribute to the downward revision in world demand growth. The Chinese plan to reduce fuel use, while India’s decision to raise retail prices is also “expected to play a major role in dampening oil consumption in the coming year.” Oil prices remain volatile, driven by concerns over Europe’s financial crisis and conflicting economic signals from the United States, the world’s biggest crude consumer.

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