MOSCOW (Reuters) – Global oil demand will pick up in the next months with the summer driving season, Russia’s top oil official said, adding that this was factored into the OPEC+ producer group’s decision to release more oil into the market.
Russia is reducing its output as part of the OPEC+ group, which decided this month to release more oil into the market from April, its first production increase since 2022.
Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said OPEC+ – which comprises OPEC and allies such as Russia – stood ready to act if sluggish demand and a rise in supplies from producers such as the United States led to an oversupply. But he added worries about demand might have been exaggerated.
“Oil demand will grow during the driving season,” he told Reuters on Thursday evening.
The International Energy Agency warned on Thursday that global oil supply could exceed demand by around 600,000 barrels per day this year, due to growth led by the United States and weaker than expected global demand.
Novak also said that he did not expect a quick solution to the resumption of Russian gas exports to Europe via the damaged Nord Stream pipelines under the Baltic Sea.
“It’s off the agenda for now,” he said.
Novak also said there were no talks at the moment about the resumption of Russian oil flows to Germany through the Druzhba pipeline. Germany and Poland stopped purchases of Moscow’s oil in 2023 over the conflict in Ukraine while Hungary and Slovakia still buy oil from Russia.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin. Editing by Mark Potter)
