Opec, the crude oil exporters' group, maintained its outlook for oil demand in 2022 and continues to see consumption surging above pre-pandemic levels in 2022, it said in its latest monthly market report.
The Vienna-based group maintained its oil demand forecast for next year, keeping it unchanged at 100.8 million barrels per day, amid continuing growth for the global economy.
Opec attributed its forecast to improved economic activity, as "pandemic-related risks" are well managed dowing ue to higher vaccination rates and better treatment for those infected.
The group, however, trimmed its outlook for 2021, expecting consumption to rise by 5.8 million bpd compared with its previous estimate of six million bpd.
"Despite positive assumptions on oil demand going into the final quarter of the year, supported by seasonal petrochemical and heating fuel demand as well as the potential of switching from natural gas to oil in the power generation sector, the downward revision mainly takes into account actual data," Opec said in its report.
Crude has rallied to three-year highs, trading above $80 per barrel amid a global shortage in energy supply.
Brent edged close to $85 this week but pared gains to trade at $82.67 per barrel, down 0.9 per cent at 3.57pm UAE time while West Texas Intermediate was down 0.89 per cent at $79.96 per barrel. But both benchmarks have been trading at three-year highs of above $80 per barrel.
Opec said it expects demand for products such as petrol and diesel to increase, supported by a recovery in mobility and industrial activity.
Oil demand for the current year is expected to average 96.6 million bpd. Opec revised lower forecasts for demand in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development regions and countries outside the club of the world's most developed nations.
"While the downward revision in OECD regions focused on 1H21, non-OECD revisions were concentrated in 3Q21," the report said.
Opec also revised lower liquids supply this year from countries outside its group. Non-Opec supply growth has been revised by 300,000 bpd to reach 700,000 bpd for 2021.
The lower estimates come on the back of output shut-ins along the US Gulf of Mexico caused by Hurricane Ida, maintenance at a Kazakh oil field as well as a force majeure at an oil sands site in Canada.
"The impact of the hurricane led to a downward revision in US liquids supply in 2021 from growth of 100,000 bpd to a contraction of 100,000 bpd. The main growth drivers for 2021 supply growth continue to be Canada, Russia, China, Norway, and Brazil," the report said.
Opec, with non-member countries led by Russia, earlier this month agreed to bring 400,000 bpd back to the market as part of an incremental increase in supply, which will result in two million bpd returned by year-end.
Separately, Russian leader Vladimir Putin said during an energy conference that he expected to see the Vienna group sustain its commitments through to the end of 2022.
"We believe the Opec+ agreement will be in force until the end of next year. At the same time, the results show that co-operation between our countries has the potential for further development," he told Russia Energy Week on Wednesday.
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
Premier League results
Saturday
Crystal Palace 1 Brighton & Hove Albion 2
Cardiff City 2 West Ham United 0
Huddersfield Town 0 Bournemouth 2
Leicester City 3 Fulham 1
Newcastle United 3 Everton 2
Southampton 2 Tottenham Hotspur 1
Manchester City 3 Watford 1
Sunday
Liverpool 4 Burnley 2
Chelsea 1 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1
Arsenal 2 Manchester United 0
When is VAR used?
• Goals
• Penalty decisions
• Direct red-card incidents
• Mistaken identity
The specs
Engine: 2x201bhp AC Permanent-magnetic electric
Transmission: n/a
Power: 402bhp
Torque: 659Nm
Price estimate: Dh200,000
On sale: Q3 2022
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Iran's dirty tricks to dodge sanctions
There’s increased scrutiny on the tricks being used to keep commodities flowing to and from blacklisted countries. Here’s a description of how some work.
1 Going Dark
A common method to transport Iranian oil with stealth is to turn off the Automatic Identification System, an electronic device that pinpoints a ship’s location. Known as going dark, a vessel flicks the switch before berthing and typically reappears days later, masking the location of its load or discharge port.
2. Ship-to-Ship Transfers
A first vessel will take its clandestine cargo away from the country in question before transferring it to a waiting ship, all of this happening out of sight. The vessels will then sail in different directions. For about a third of Iranian exports, more than one tanker typically handles a load before it’s delivered to its final destination, analysts say.
3. Fake Destinations
Signaling the wrong destination to load or unload is another technique. Ships that intend to take cargo from Iran may indicate their loading ports in sanction-free places like Iraq. Ships can keep changing their destinations and end up not berthing at any of them.
4. Rebranded Barrels
Iranian barrels can also be rebranded as oil from a nation free from sanctions such as Iraq. The countries share fields along their border and the crude has similar characteristics. Oil from these deposits can be trucked out to another port and documents forged to hide Iran as the origin.
* Bloomberg
Scorline
Iraq 1-0 UAE
Iraq Hussein 28’
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Hogarth
The specs: 2019 Haval H6
Price, base: Dh69,900
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 197hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 315Nm @ 2,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km
Movie: Saheb, Biwi aur Gangster 3
Producer: JAR Films
Director: Tigmanshu Dhulia
Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Jimmy Sheirgill, Mahie Gill, Chitrangda Singh, Kabir Bedi
Rating: 3 star
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BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Europe's top EV producers
- Norway (63% of cars registered in 2021)
- Iceland (33%)
- Netherlands (20%)
- Sweden (19%)
- Austria (14%)
- Germany (14%)
- Denmark (13%)
- Switzerland (13%)
- United Kingdom (12%)
- Luxembourg (10%)
Source: VCOe
THE BIO
Favourite place to go to in the UAE: The desert sand dunes, just after some rain
Who inspires you: Anybody with new and smart ideas, challenging questions, an open mind and a positive attitude
Where would you like to retire: Most probably in my home country, Hungary, but with frequent returns to the UAE
Favorite book: A book by Transilvanian author, Albert Wass, entitled ‘Sword and Reap’ (Kard es Kasza) - not really known internationally
Favourite subjects in school: Mathematics and science
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
Ant-Man%20and%20the%20Wasp%3A%20Quantumania
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPeyton%20Reed%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Paul%20Rudd%2C%20Evangeline%20Lilly%2C%20Jonathan%20Majors%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The Brutalist
Director: Brady Corbet
Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn
Rating: 3.5/5
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
