A tale of two forecasts
Both the IEA and Opec agree global oil demand will increase in 2017. Supplies are trickier to figure out
While neither the International Energy Agency (IEA) nor Opec proved particularly successful at forecasting oil supply and demand trends in 2016 they agree on two things: economic growth will drive global oil consumption higher in 2017 and the call on Opec is increasing. Now Opec has agreed a deal to curb output by 1.2m barrels a day from January, so if the agencies are right the market will tighten. Both Opec and the IEA expect global economic growth to average around 3% in 2017, roughly in line with the International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s estimate for 2016. That will yield oil-consumption growth of 1.2m b/d, about the same as in 2016. But in absolute terms, their baselines still differ. The
Also in this section
17 February 2026
The 25th WPC Energy Congress, taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 26–30 April 2026, will bring together leaders from the political, industrial, financial and technology sectors under the unifying theme “Pathways to an Energy Future for All”
17 February 2026
Siemens Energy has been active in the Kingdom for nearly a century, evolving over that time from a project-based foreign supplier to a locally operating multi-national company with its own domestic supply chain and workforce
17 February 2026
Eni’s chief operating officer for global natural resources, Guido Brusco, takes stock of the company’s key achievements over the past year, and what differentiates its strategy from those of its peers in the LNG sector and beyond
16 February 2026
As the third wave of global LNG arrives, Wood Mackenzie’s director for Europe gas and LNG, Tom Marzec-Manser, discusses with Petroleum Economist the outlook for Europe’s gas market in 2026
