Wars Around The World Show No Signs of Abating. OPEC Cut Its Oil Demand Growth Forecast Further.

OPEC cut its oil demand growth forecast for the year as hostilities in the Middle East and Russia remain elevated with no signs of abating.

OPEC now expects it to reach 400,000 barrels per day, compared to 1.4 million barrels per day at the beginning of the year, according to Haitham Al Ghais, Secretary General of ​the ​organization. He expects for demand to increase again in 2027.

The shift echoes that of the International Energy Agency (IEA), which said in September global oil demand is set to fall further than expected.

The agency said in its latest report that global demand will decline by 2.5 million barrels per day this year, 940,000 more than what it expected last month.

It went on to say that the main reason for the change is the "continuing impasse in negotiations between the United States and Iran delays the prospect of a normalisation of flows into next year."

"Losses will be concentrated in middle distillates and petrochemical feedstock products, especially in Asia. Oil demand is projected to recover by 2.6 mb/d in 2027, narrowly offsetting this year's losses," the IEA added.

The agency also said last week it will speed up the release of oil stocks and prioritize diesel as the flow of fuel remains disrupted.

The agency said in a statement that so far "approximately 325 million barrels of oil have been released under the March 2026 Collective Action, with some countries having released greater volumes than they initially pledged."

It added that 100 million more barrels are set to be released. And noted that IEA Member governments "still have significant levels of publicly held emergency oil stocks – equivalent to around 1.1 billion barrels, including over 200 million barrels of diesel."

"The IEA stands ready to release more of these stocks to the market if and when required," the document noted.