True to its perpetually optimistic form, OPEC, which only last week for the first time conceded the threat posed by rising US shale production… (Click to enlarge) … sharply raised its demand forecast for cartel oil in 2018, ahead of a key meeting of the group’s ministers later this month. According to OPEC’s monthly market report, the oil exporters said the forecast demand for its oil next year had been increased by around 400,000 barrels a day from the previous month to 33.4mmbpd, about 0.46mmbpd higher than in 2017. Overall, the cartel now expects global demand growth to rise by 1.53 million barrels a day in 2017 – an upward revision of 74kbps from the October report citing better than expected performance from China – and 1.51 million barrels a day in 2018. The increase comes on the back of the recent global economic strength, which has exceeded many […]