Image: Christophe Gateau (dpa)
The Brent front-month contract rose by 6.2 percent to an average of $85.10 per barrel compared to the previous month and that for WTI rose by 7.0 percent to an average of $81.32. For the DME-Oman front-month contract, 6.5 percent more had to be paid at $86.46, according to the OPEC monthly report.
The difference between Brent and WTI decreased by an average of 35 cents to $3.78 for the month. At the same time, hedge funds and other money managers reduced their net long positions in Brent and WTI, which can be seen as an indication that prices are easing.
The OPEC forecast for global growth in oil demand for this year remains constant at 2.4 million barrels per day compared to the previous month: according to the assessment, 2.3 million barrels of this will come from non-OECD countries. But “healthy growth” of 2.2 million barrels per day is also expected next year. Non-OECD countries will increase consumption by 2 million barrels per day. China, India, the Middle East and the rest of Asia will contribute the most to the increase.
OPEC has also slightly raised its growth forecast for liquefied natural gas supplies and now expects an increase of 1.6 million barrels per day outside of OPEC. For next year, OPEC is sticking to its previous assessment with a forecast increase in non-OPEC liquid natural gas production of 1.4 million barrels per day. In both years, the USA, Brazil, Norway, Kazakhstan, Guyana and China were responsible for the higher production.
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