OPEC predicts 'good' year for oil market

Secretary-General of Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Mohammad Barkindo expressed optimism that 2021 will be a good year for oil producers, even as Brent crude oil traded at $56.07, Report informs referring to Vanguard.

Barkindo spoke on Jan. 26 at the 6th Iranian Petroleum and Energy Club Congress and Exhibition Videoconference.

"Our predicted oil demand for 2021 stayed unchanged from the previous month in our January Monthly Oil Market Report, rising by 5.9 mb/d to an average of 95.9 mb/d. Meanwhile, growth was revised slightly higher for 2020 to a decline of 9.8 mb/d to average 90 mb/d - an unprecedented overall decline of about 10 percent," he said.

"With the market currently switching into backwardation, we are hopeful that 2021 will be a good year. In fact, we see the global economy growing by about 4.4 percent, which is a big leap from the minus 4.1 percent witnessed in 2020, which will have a positive knock-on effect on oil consumption," he added.

In his opinion, the oil industry needs investments worth $12.6 trillion. In 2020, the extraction sector’s investments fell by a third amid falling demand and prices, the secretary-general concluded.