Addressing a session at the 3rd Iranian Petroleum and Energy Club Congress and Exhibition in Tehran on Wednesday, Dr. Hojjatollah Ghanimifard said various factors including increased production by the US in the market hinder rebalancing of the oil market.

He said global economic growth is forecast by OPEC at 3.4% in 2018 following estimated growth of 3.5% in 2017.

World oil demand is expected to grow by 1.4 mb/d in 2018, broadly in line with growth in 2017, he added.

The OPEC official further said: “During 2014-2016, global oil supply outpaced demand leading to a substantial build in oil inventories. This caused a deep drop in oil prices, which affected investment in oil industry.”

The Declaration of Cooperation between 24 OPEC and non-OPEC producing countries has contributed to a significant drop in onshore and offshore oil stocks, in an effort to bring forward market rebalancing, he added.  

The rebalancing has been delayed due to the change in the oil market fundamentals, mainly on the supply side, despite a very high conformity by OPEC and non-OPEC participating countries.