ND: OPEC Says World Will Need Less of Its Oil Next Year
By Benoît Faucon
VIENNA--OPEC said demand for its crude oil will be lower than expected next year, amid slowing demand and ample supply which have already pushed global oil prices lower.
In its monthly oil-market report, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said it had revised estimated demand for its crude down by 200,000 barrels a day for 2015 and by the same amount for this year. As a result, markets will need 300,000 barrels a day less of OPEC crude next year, it said.
OPEC's statement comes after the Brent oil contract--the most widely traded international benchmark-- fell below $ 100 a barrel on Tuesday for the first time in 16 months.
The group attributed lackluster appetite for its oil to mounting competition from rival producers and sluggish demand in industrialized nations.
The U.S., which is undergoing a boom in nonconventional fields, is to boost its oil output by 780,000 barrels a day in 2015, OPEC said.
OPEC also downgraded its global oil demand forecast by 20,000 barrels a day for next year. Though the revision is tiny compared with OPEC's expectation that consumption will increase by 1.19 million barrels a day, the group said it reflected slower consumption growth in industrialized nations.
Despite lower demand for its crude, OPEC said its production rose by 231,000 barrels a day in August as Libyan oil ports and fields reopened.
