The oil market is heading towards rebalancing this year, most analysts seem to think , with OPEC+ production cuts, combined with a potential slowdown in U.S. shale eating away at the surplus. However, the “rebalancing” all hinges on the steady demand growth projections that most analysts have at the heart of their forecasts. On that front, we just got another dose of bad news. On Monday, the International Monetary Fund lowered its economic growth forecast and seemed to sound the alarm bells regarding the health of the global economy. “While global growth in 2018 remained close to postcrisis highs, the global expansion is weakening and at a rate that is somewhat faster than expected,” Gita Gopinath, the Economic Counsellor and Director of Research at the IMF, said in a commentary on January 21. The IMF only downgraded its growth estimate by 0.2 percent, down to 3.5 percent for 2019, […]