OPEC revises its evaluation criteria for global oil demand

Market participants in the commodity sector will have to deal with changes in monthly reports provided by OPEC.

In the meantime, OPEC is preparing for significant changes in its monthly surveys on the conditions in the oil market. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has revised its evaluation criteria for the global oil demand.

From now on, the cartel will publish demand forecasts for a broader group of oil producers: the OPEC+ alliance. This group consists of the cartel countries and independent oil-producing states, including Russia.

Recently, the cooperation between the cartel and its allies has been cementing. Hence, appropriate updates are introduced in tune with the latest developments. The coordination of a joint policy for supplying oil to the global market is high on the agenda of the major oil exporters.

Previously, the secretariat in Vienna applied the indicator known as OPEC demand. It has been closely monitored by analysts and traders as an accurate barometer of the commodity market.

However, the cartel is going to publish only figures of the expected oil demand for all participants of the Declaration of Cooperation (the official name of OPEC+). The reason is the priority of the general agreement on oil output rates over individual indicators. The new indicator will serve as a key mechanism for making crucial decisions at summits, an OPEC representative explained.

The transition to the new assessment methodology will certainly influence the conclusions of industry experts. OPEC has already provided a report based on new criteria. The first report on the demand forecast for the extended group of oil producers was already available in April.