World oil demand continued to slow down in the first quarter to 1.6 million barrels per day, 120,000 barrels less than initially forecast, mainly due to developments in richer countries, Energy International (IEA) announced yesterday.
In the monthly report on the oil market released yesterday, the IEA indicates that, for the whole of 2024, the increase will be 1.2 million barrels per day, a value that will fall slightly to 1.1 million in 2025, although the recovery of activity after the pandemic is considered “essentially complete”.
This slowdown is due to “exceptionally weak” demand from OECD countries, which increased by just 250,000 barrels per day in the first quarter, especially in Europe, while the United States and Canada recorded slight increases.
The AIE, according to Lusa, attributes this situation to lower demand from European industry, as well as greater vehicle efficiency and the progressive increase in the number of electric vehicles.
