On Friday, Tsutomu Sugimori, president of the Petroleum Association of Japan (PAJ) expected that OPEC+ would suspend its plan to boost its oil output in January 2021 and maintain the level of the current cuts.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its non-member oil producer allies (OPEC+) originally plans to ease its oil output cut pact from the current 7.7 million bpd cut to 5.5 million bpd cut early next year on the expectation of improved demand.
However, due to the resurgence of coronavirus cases, Sugimori estimated the group to maintain the current curbs after January. Separately, some sources informed that OPEC+ members have been leaning towards delaying the previously agreed plan to increase output in January.
Sugimori added that due to the recent resurgence, Japan’s gasoline demand is seen to shrink deeper in December and January.
In November, the country’s gasoline demand is forecast to drop by only 2% year-on-year, but in the December-January period, the fall might expand to as much as 9% as on Thursday, Tokyo reported the highest daily infection level which prompted a call for maximum caution in the approaching holiday season.
