Oil Market Records Higher Demand In September Over Pre-COVID Period

A data released by the Joint Organisations Data Initiative (JODI), has disclosed that, oil demand worldwide rose in September to exceed the September 2019 pre-COVID levels by nearly 1 million barrels per day (bpd).

Global oil demand rose seasonally in September to the second-highest level of this year, according to the JODI data shared by the Riyadh-based International Energy Forum (IEF).

In September, global oil demand was at 101 per cent of pre-COVID levels, while crude production was at 99 per cent of those levels, the data showed.

Oil demand in September continued its growth from August when consumption rebounded from July.

After a counter-seasonal drop in July, global oil demand rebounded in August by 2 million bpd to reach 99 per cent of pre-Covid levels, JODI data showed earlier this year.

The rise in September demand was driven by diesel consumption in China and gasoline demand in the United States, said the IEF, the world’s largest international organisation of energy ministers.

While markets tightened in September compared to August, global inventories of crude and refined products climbed counter seasonally by 3.7 million barrels. Yet, global inventories remain 442 million barrels below the five-year average, the IEF said.

Other noteworthy findings for September included a rise in Saudi crude oil exports, which went up by 120,000 bpd to reach a 29-month high of 7.72 million bpd.

In the United States, total product demand jumped by 570,000 bpd in September and was up 1.03 million bpd from year-ago levels. U.S. crude oil production was 1.13 million bpd higher than year-ago levels.

Oil demand in China, the world’s top oil importer, rose by 459,000 bpd in September, but it was still 453,000 bpd below year-ago levels. Chinese crude oil imports increased by 290,000 bpd to 9.82 million bpd. Yet, they were still down by 197,000 bpd in September compared to the same month of last year, according to the JODI data.