OPEC’s forecast lends the cartel’s voice to a debate in the oil industry over how soon demand for crude oil will decelerate. Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Norway’s Statoil SA, predict demand could reach its high as soon as 2025 or 2030. But Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. argue peak demand isn’t in sight, and OPEC’s demand forecast is largely in line with that of the Paris-based International Energy Agency, which argues that global oil demand will grow slowly past 2040 . In its annual World Oil outlook, OPEC said slower-than-expected global economic growth as a result of increased protectionism and reduced free trade could weigh on oil demand through 2040, resulting in demand of roughly 107.5 million barrels a day in 2040. But the cartel predicts long-term oil demand to increase by 15.8 million barrels a day, hitting 111.1 million barrels a day in 2040, compared with […]