OPEC lowers global oil demand forecast for 2025 and 2026

OPEC has lowered its outlook for world oil demand rise in 2025 and 2026 by about 100,000 barrels per day due to US President Donald Trump's trade policy negatively affecting energy consumption. The cartel expects annual demand gains of 1%, which is equivalent to 1.3 million barrels per day.

Despite the change in outlook, OPEC's forecast remains more optimistic than the expectations of others in the oil industry. Last week, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reduced its crude demand forecast for this year by 30% to 900,000 barrels per day. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs’ analysts believe oil consumption will climb merely by 500,000 barrels per day.

Bloomberg notes that OPEC's expectations for crude demand growth have proven to be wrong in recent years. The cartel's forecast of 2024 was higher than other organizations’ estimates, but then was downgraded by 32% within six months.

An updated oil demand outlook from the International Energy Agency (IEA) is due out later on Tuesday. It gets more attention from traders than OPEC’s estimates, Bloomberg highlights.