Today, three billion people around the world are confined. “As a result, there may well be a drop in demand this year of around 20 million barrels a day, according to some,” said Fatih Birol, during a conference call.
Global oil demand represented 100 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2019.
Fatih Birol added that despite this expected drop in demand, the overall supply of crude could increase by an additional three million bpd due to the ongoing price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.
“As it presides over the G20 this year, one would expect Saudi Arabia to make a positive contribution to stabilizing world oil markets in light of its past behavior,” he said.
He added that the IEA, which advises OECD countries on energy policy, would present updated and detailed forecasts of demand developments in two weeks time for the publication of its monthly report.
He said falling demand could quickly lead to saturation of global crude storage capacities and said that recovering demand will likely be neither easy nor quick.
SOURCE: en24.news