Opec+ is cutting back production until 2022 to counter the demand crunch from the coronavirus pandemic. AFP
Opec+ is cutting back production until 2022 to counter the demand crunch from the coronavirus pandemic. AFP
Opec+ is cutting back production until 2022 to counter the demand crunch from the coronavirus pandemic. AFP
Opec+ is cutting back production until 2022 to counter the demand crunch from the coronavirus pandemic. AFP

Opec makes further revisions to demand outlook as members deepen cuts


Jennifer Gnana
  • English
  • Arabic

Oil demand is set for further downward revisions this month, plunging 5.19 million barrels per day year-on-year, Opec forecast in its monthly market outlook, even as its members begin implementing their deepest ever output cuts.

The slide is a downward revision of 1.2m bpd from the previous month's estimation, the report said. It justified further revision of demand, citing "bleak indications" for the transportation sector in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries.

"The Covid-19 outbreak and its downward impact on transportation and industrial fuels was reassessed and is now assumed to further deepen [year-on-year] oil demand losses," Opec said.

Oil demand from non-OECD countries is also set to plunge 3.88m bpd, a further 1.03m bpd downward revision from the previous month's projection.

Opec+ is trimming output by 9.7m bpd in May and June and will keep drawing back supply until 2022. Opec's core Gulf Arab members are, in addition, cutting an extra 2m bpd more than their stipulated quotas.

On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia, which leads the alliance with Russia, said it would cut a further million bpd of supply from the markets in June, bringing its total output curbs to 4.8m bpd. Production for the month of June for the world's largest oil exporter is expected to average 7.492m bpd.

Kuwait will also cut an additional 80,000 bpd, while the UAE is committed to further reductions of 100,000 bpd.

Opec's second-largest producer Iraq, which has traditionally shirked from slashing production, pledged to cut 300,000 bpd bringing its total restrictions to just under 700,000 bpd.

The group of oil producing countries also expects global upstream exploration capital expenditure to fall 23 per cent in 2020, almost half the levels seen during the price crash that began in 2014, the report added.

Saudi Arabia and Russia on Wednesday reiterated their commitment to maintaining oil market stability as demand remains constrained amid the economic fallout from the pandemic.

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Ahmed Saadawi
​​​​​​​Penguin Press

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Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut

Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”

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British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
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Three ways to limit your social media use

Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.

1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE DETAILS

Director: Milan Jhaveri
Producer: Emmay Entertainment and T-Series
Cast: John Abraham, Manoj Bajpayee
Rating: 2/5

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THE CLOWN OF GAZA

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Starring: Alaa Meqdad

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The BIO:

He became the first Emirati to climb Mount Everest in 2011, from the south section in Nepal

He ascended Mount Everest the next year from the more treacherous north Tibetan side

By 2015, he had completed the Explorers Grand Slam

Last year, he conquered K2, the world’s second-highest mountain located on the Pakistan-Chinese border

He carries dried camel meat, dried dates and a wheat mixture for the final summit push

His new goal is to climb 14 peaks that are more than 8,000 metres above sea level

Sarfira

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Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal 

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