The U.S. Department Of Energy Says There Are Large Uncertainties In Global Oil Demand

The US Department of Energy released its "Short-Term Energy Outlook" (STEO) monthly report on December 7th, stating that global oil demand still has great uncertainty, because the path of demand recovery from the epidemic is still easily blocked. One example is the market turbulence after the health organization exposed Omicron. In November, the spot price of Brent crude oil was US$81 per barrel, down US$3 from the previous month, but it still rose by US$38 per barrel compared with the same period last year, mainly due to the steady decline in global oil inventories over the past year. In the first three quarters of this year, the international oil market’s inventory decreased by an average of 1.4 million barrels per day. In December, due to the impact of Omicron, the price of Brent crude oil fell below US$70 per barrel. The report estimates that the average price of Brent crude oil in December will be US$71 per barrel, and the average price of the first quarter of 2022 will be US$73 per barrel. The average price of 2022 for the whole year is estimated to be US$70 per barrel. The steady increase in production by the Organization of Nations and its oil-producing allies (OPEC+), as well as the growth of oil production in the United States and other countries, is expected to gradually catch up with the impact of demand growth.