CERAWeek signals strong oil demand, yet EIA begs to differ
NEW YORK (Bloomberg) -- While the mood at this week’s CERAWeek by IHS Markit conference in Houston is bullish and officials are saying demand is on track and will eat away at global supplies to tighten oil markets, the U.S. government is forecasting the opposite scenario.
Global production will rise both this year and next, yet demand will shrink, according to the latest forecasts from the Energy Information Administration on Tuesday. U.S. production is seen topping 11 MMbopd in October.
On the other hand at CERA, Saudi Arabia’s former oil minister said nobody should worry about demand, and Saudi Aramco Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser said he isn’t “losing sleep” over peak oil demand. Yet, the International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol did warn on the sidelines of the conference that “established producers need to reconsider their production plans quickly and substantially in light of the huge production increase from U.S. shale.”
