Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Monday the global oil market will be balanced in the second half of the year and thereafter, thanks to the OPEC+ deal on production supply.

OPEC+, which groups the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting countries and allies such as Russia, has implemented a series of output cuts since late 2022 to support the market. The group agreed on June 2 to extend the latest cut of 2.2 million bpd until the end of September and gradually phase it out from October.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration said last week that world oil demand will exceed output by around 750,000 barrels per day in the second half of 2024 due to lower OPEC+ output.

OPEC’s last-week report also pointed to an oil supply deficit in the coming months and in 2025.

Responding to a question about oil market conditions in the second half of the year from autumn, when OPEC+ will begin unravelling some of its production cuts, Mr. Novak said: “The market will always be balanced thanks to our actions.”

Paris:

World demand for oil, gas and coal is forecast for the first time to peak this decade, the head of the International Energy Agency wrote in the Financial Times on Tuesday. The IEA’s annual World Energy Outlook, due out next month, will show that “the world is on the cusp of a historic turning point,” executive director Fatih Birol wrote in the FT.

The shift will have implications for the battle against climate change as it will bring forward the peak in greenhouse gas emissions, Birol said.

Based on government policies worldwide, demand for the three fossil fuels is “set to hit a peak in the coming years”, Birol said.

“This is the first time that a peak in demand is visible for each fuel this decade,” he wrote, adding that this was happening sooner than anticipated.

Oil demand is expected to peak before 2030 thanks to the growth of electric vehicles.

Gas demand will drop later this decade in advanced economies as heat pumps and renewable energy are increasingly used while Europe is shifting away from Russian supplies following the war in Ukraine.

Coal demand will peak in “the next few years”, he added, pointing to falling investments in the fossil fuel and the growth of renewable energy and nuclear power in top consumer China.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)