Global oil demand to fall to 30.6m barrels daily

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has said demand for crude oil would fall to 30.59 million barrels per day this year due to global economic realities.

While increasing forecast for non-OPEC production by 80,000 bpd to 2.18 million bpd on the backdrop of output from the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, the cartel’s monthly report released yesterday showed that the group’s 2019 forecast fell by about 50,000 bpd.

The report indicated that the group succeeded in removing about 797,000 bpd from the market, while Nigeria increased oil output from 1,740 million bpd in December to 1,792 million bpd last month.

In a related development, the Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Abhay Thakur, yesterday said his home country sources 10 per cent of its energy needs from Nigeria.

The envoy made the disclosure during a visit to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

He said the Asian nation was working on strengthening existing ties on gas, solar energy and other renewable sources.

NNPC Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, urged the Asians to invest in Nigeria’s oil and gas downstream sector, particularly refineries.