During the 47th meeting of the Joint Technical Committee (JTC), OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo noted that crude oil demand will shift from reverse to forward gear and rise to 95.9 million barrels per day (bpd) this year, a gain of 5.9 million bpd from 2020.
Even so, the OPEC leader also raised concerns over the inventory levels while saying that inventory levels show positive momentum – though they remain stubbornly high. “Preliminary November data shows total OECD commercial oil stocks fell by around 24.8 million barrels m-o-m. The current levels are more than 205 million barrels higher than the same time one year ago and about 163 million barrels above the latest five-year average,” the official said.
Market implications
While oil traders are yet to return from their year-end holidays, cautiously positive comments from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Secretary Barkindo can favor the energy benchmark ahead of Monday’s the meeting of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC). It’s worth mentioning that the WTI holds gains above $48.00 off-late.