As the global economy grinds to a near halt due to the coronavirus, Trafigura said oil demand could fall by more than 30 million bpd in April. The commodities trader’s forecast equals to around 33 percent of the daily oil consumption in the world.
As some 3 billion people are under lockdown to the prevent the coronavirus spread with no clear end in sight, Russia-Saudi Arabia battle for market share has become increasingly inappropriate now, Trafigura said. To deepen supply cuts, OPEC and Russia failed to reach a deal early this month. It led both countries to pledge a boost in production from April.
As people and goods move around even less, the global refinery run cuts will rise to 12-13 million bpd in the next two or so weeks.
Besides from the parts of Africa that are still moving for now, the only consistent fuel demand was also coming from China and global military units. As next month storage will run out, producers will have to start cutting more.
