Crude Oil Demand Holds Steady, Supply Debate Heats Up

Published 12/09/2025, 06:25
Updated 12/09/2025, 08:18

OPEC’s view of global oil demand growth was left unchanged as of today’s September Monthly Oil Market Report, at 1.3 million bpd for 2025, with non-OECD economies once again doing the heavy lifting. The OECD share of demand growth is negligible at 0.1 million bpd, while Asia, the Middle East, and parts of Latin America make up the balance.

For 2026, OPEC sees demand inching higher to 1.4 million bpd.

The supply figures, however, are more contentious. Producers outside the OPEC+ framework are set to add 0.8 million bpd next year and another 0.6 million in 2026, led by the U.S., Brazil, Canada, and Argentina.

Within OPEC itself, output in August jumped by just over half a million barrels per day to 42.4 million, according to secondary sources.

That production increase follows OPEC+’s latest quota tweak — a modest 137,000 bpd rise, the seventh straight monthly increase. Prices didn’t fall on the news; they rose. Traders saw the hike as more symbolic than real, with several members still producing below quota and others, like Iraq and Kazakhstan, forced to make compensation cuts. RBC’s Helima Croft noted that Saudi Arabia holds most of the spare capacity, with the UAE and Kuwait accounting for the rest. The headline number, in other words, looks bigger than the barrels that will actually hit the water.

It’s this gap — between paper and physical barrels — that explains why talk of a glut hasn’t knocked prices down. U.S. production growth is slowing, new Russian sanctions are in the works, and OPEC+ has left itself room to reverse course. Demand is steady but not spectacular, supply is rising but not as much as advertised, and the market is left trying to decide which side of the balance will blink first.

Original Post

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers
© 2007-2025 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.