Financial Services Association, May 15 (Editor: Zhou Ziyi) The International Energy Agency (IEA) on Wednesday (May 14) lowered its forecast for oil demand growth in 2024, further widening the agency's differences of opinion with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries OPEC (OPEC) on the outlook for global oil demand this year.

The energy regulator lowered its forecast for oil demand growth this year by 140,000 barrels to 1.1 million b/d, mainly due to weak demand in developed countries in the OECD.

Meanwhile, OPEC stuck to its expectations the day before (May 14), believing that global oil demand will increase by 2.25 million b/d in 2024, which is more than double the IEA's view.

The IEA said in its monthly oil report that lowering the annual oil demand forecast is related to sluggish industrial activity and the mild winter weakening energy consumption.

The IEA said, “America's diesel supply was weak at the beginning of this year, which was enough to cause the OECD countries' oil demand to shrink again in the first quarter.” The agency also pointed out that in Europe, the decline in the share of diesel vehicles has weakened gasoline consumption.

OPEC, on the other hand, is optimistic about the global economic outlook. The organization notes that despite some downside risks, the continued momentum observed since the beginning of the year could create additional upward potential for global economic growth in 2024 and beyond.

Furthermore, the huge difference between the two predictions is partly due to their different views on the speed of the global transition to clean fuels.

As for global oil demand in 2025, the IEA expects a daily increase of 1.2 million barrels, slightly higher than previous forecasts, and slightly higher than this year's forecast. In contrast, the OPEC organization expects oil demand to grow by 1.85 million b/d next year.