Oil Demand is Down, But Will it Ever Come Back?

It comes as no surprise that oil demand is down in the age of COVID. Crude producers are cutting supply in response to lackluster demand. Though the details of a promising vaccine have boosted oil market growth for the time being, The International Energy Agency (IEA) does not forecast that a vaccine will significantly boost demand “until well into next year,” said a CNBC report.

Marketscale Radio hosts Daniel Litwin & Tyler Kern consider the current and future position of oil in the economy. As the energy industry has drastically shifted over the course of this year, the idea that the economy will return to pre-COVID oil dependency is slim, suggests Litwin. As the oil industry slowly realizes the trend away from oil, what will their long term goals look like in a profitable post-COVID economy, queries Kern.

KEY POINTS:

• IEA expects world oil demand to contract by 8.8 million barrels per day this year (CNBC).
• The latter half of 2021 may be when oil demand finally sees a boost.
• OPEC tapers off oil supply in response to low demand.