The IEA is now much more bearish on 2018 than Opec
The latest forecasts from the IEA and Opec offer very different pictures of the oil market next year
Either the International Energy Agency or Opec will spend 2018 making lots of revisions to forecasts. For years, their broad view on the oil market has tended to chime. But a chasm has opened up between their outlooks for 2018. Both can't be right. The next 12 months will tell the market which is wrong. Opec's latest monthly oil-market report, released on 13 December, is full of good news for the group's producers. Oil demand remains strong and will rise again next year by 1.5m barrels a day, it predicts. Non-Opec supply will grow too, but by just 1m b/d. The upshot, according to Opec, is that demand for the group's own oil will rise by 300,000 b/d in 2018 to an average of 33.2m. In November
Also in this section
12 December 2025
The federal government is working with Alberta to improve the country’s access to Asian markets and reduce dependence on the US, but there are challenges to their plans
11 December 2025
The removal of the ban on oil and gas exploration and an overhaul of the system sends all the right messages for energy security, affordability and sustainability
10 December 2025
The economic and environmental cost of the seven-year exploration ban will be felt long after its removal
9 December 2025
The group’s oil production declined in November, our latest analysis finds, amid divided sentiment over market balances and geopolitical jitters
