OPEC Monthly Report: The OPEC Reference Basket slipped slightly in September to $42.89/b, down 21¢

Crude Oil Price Movements

The OPEC Reference Basket slipped slightly in September to $42.89/b, down 21¢. ICE Brent ended up 8¢ at $47.24/b and NYMEX WTI increased 43¢ to $45.23/b. Crude oil prices were supported by efforts to address excess global supplies and consecutive draws in US crude stockpiles. The Brent-WTI spread narrowed to $2.01/b.

World Economy

World economic growth remains unchanged at 2.9% for 2016 and 3.1% for 2017. The OECD growth forecast remains at 1.6% and 1.7% for 2016 and 2017, respectively. Forecasts for China and India are also unchanged at 6.5% and 7.5% for 2016 and 6.1% and 7.2% for 2017. Brazil and Russia are forecast to grow by 0.4% and 0.7% in 2017, following contractions of 3.4% and 0.6% this year.

World Oil Demand

World oil demand in 2016 is seen increasing by 1.24 mb/d to average 94.40 mb/d, after a marginal upward revision of around 10 tb/d from the September MOMR, mainly to reflect the latest data. Positive revisions were primarily a result of higher-than-expected demand in the Other Asia region, while downward revisions were a result of lower-than-expected performance from OECD America. In 2017, world oil demand is anticipated to rise by 1.15 mb/d, unchanged from the September MOMR, to average 95.56 mb/d.

World Oil Supply

Non-OPEC oil supply in 2016 is now expected to contract by 0.68 mb/d, following a downward revision of around 70 tb/d from the September MOMR to average 56.30 mb/d. This is mainly due to base line revisions. In 2017, non-OPEC supply was revised up slightly by 40 tb/d to show growth of 0.24 mb/d to average 56.54 mb/d, mainly due to new projects coming on stream in Russia. OPEC NGLs are expected to average 6.43 mb/d in 2017, an increase of 0.15 mb/d over the current year. OPEC crude production, according to secondary sources, increased by 0.22 mb/d in September to average 33.39 mb/d.