The coronavirus epidemic in China has triggered restrictions in the country’s public transport and air travel, both at a domestic and an international level, reducing demand for oil, which has lost about a fifth of its value since the start of the year. What does that mean for the world’s 2020 oil demand? Assessing the impact of the virus, Rystad Energy is heavily revising its annual global oil demand growth forecast down by 25% to 820,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2020. Our previous growth forecast, published in December, before the coronavirus outbreak, stood at 1.1 million bpd. The coronavirus’ impact on demand growth could be even wider, however, slashing growth to as low as 650,000 bpd year on year (y/y) in our worst case scenario. “Our current assessment implies that the impact of coronavirus will persist throughout all of February and March and will then gradually subside towards […]