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Takeaways from the Key Takeaways
- The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries reduced its oil-demand outlook for this year and next, citing the impact of U.S. tariffs on economic growth globally.
- The lowered outlook comes soon after the cartel and its allies announced plans to boost output by more than investors expected.
- Brent and West Texas Intermediate Crude futures are down slightly in recent trade.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, (OPEC), has reduced its oil-demand forecast for this and next year. They cited the impact of U.S. trade tariffs on the global economy.
The lowered outlook comes soon after the cartel and its allies announced a bigger-than-expected output boost—potentially hitting the crude market with excess supply at a time when the growing trade war is increasing economists’ forecasts of a U.S. recession.
OPEC now expects demand to increase by 1.30 million barrels per day (B/D) this year and 1.28 mb/d in 2026, down from its previous forecasts of 1.45 mb/d and 1.43 mb/d, respectively.
"Global economic growth began in 2025 with strong fundamentals and resilience across major economies," OPEC said. "However, recent developments in global trade relations have shifted the outlook and introduced new uncertainties amid a rising escalation in tariffs between the US and China."
Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures have both been trading slightly lower recently.
