https://arab.news/vyu3a
RIYADH: The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries reiterated its forecast for robust global oil demand growth in 2025, citing strong support from air and road travel.
In its monthly report released on Wednesday, OPEC projected that global oil demand will rise by 1.45 million barrels per day in 2025 and by 1.43 million bpd in 2026, with both forecasts remaining unchanged from the previous month.
OPEC noted that while trade concerns are expected to introduce volatility as new trade policies are rolled out, the global economy is expected to adapt.
In the same report, OPEC revealed that the broader OPEC+ group increased production by 363,000 bpd in February, with a significant boost coming from Kazakhstan, which has struggled to meet its OPEC+ output targets.
According to OPEC’s data, Kazakhstan’s production increased to 1.767 million bpd in February, up from 1.570 million bpd in January.
Although Kazakhstan has pledged to cut its output and compensate for overproduction, it has ramped up production at the Chevron-operated Tengiz oilfield, the country’s largest.
Meanwhile, Russia’s crude oil output slightly decreased by 0.04 percent to 8.973 million bpd in February, from 8.977 million bpd in January.
This was marginally below Russia's production target of 8.98 million bpd under the OPEC+ agreement. Russia’s quota is expected to rise to 9.004 million bpd starting in April as part of OPEC+'s planned gradual output increase.
Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak announced last week that OPEC+ had agreed to begin raising oil production in April, though this decision could be reversed if market imbalances arise.