Demand

摘要

While the spectre of confict in the Strait of Hormuz has thrust supply concerns into the headlines, the oil market will likely spend much of 2012 focused on the ailing health of the global economy and what this will mean for oil demand. The European debt crisis and slow growth in the US took their toll on demand growth in the OECD countries in 2011, which we estimate to have grown at just 0.7%. We expect another challenging year for the OECD markets, particularly in Western Europe, and another year of slow growth.