Oil Demand Risk is Rearing Its Head Again

摘要

The most recent batch of oil demand data for the fourth-quarter 2019 is weaker than expected and raises risk to the oil price if it keeps disappointing(OMI Dec.16'19).Growth rates at the end of last year and the first part of 2020 were supposed to bounce,partly as sluggish macroeconomic growth bottomed out,and also as oil demand looked better when compared to an anemic 2018.Data show demand growth isn't crashing,but it isn't reverting to its average of 1.2 million barrels per day,lifted by expectations for more economic growth and industrial activity this year.Instead of bouncing,rates of demand expansion keep sagging,especially in developed economies,with new weakness showing up in the US,which was supposed to be more immune from the lethargy than other regions like Europe,Japan and South Korea.