The International Energy Agency (IEA) has said that demand for crude oil may witness its biggest slump in the second quarter of this financial year. The IEA, in its April Oil Market Report released on Wednesday, predicted that global oil demand is likely to decrease by 80,000 barrels per day.
The agency said that the demand in the second quarter is expected to decrease by 1.5 million barrels per day. This would be the largest decline since the COVID-19 pandemic. The decline, the report attributed, is largely owing to oil flow disruptions triggered by the West Asia conflict and its impact on the global economy.
Besides, the report underscored that global oil supply declined by 10.1 million barrels per day to 97 million barrels per day in March, as West Asia's energy infrastructure was hit amid the US-Israel-Iran war and de facto restrictions imposed on oil tanker movements via the Strait of Hormuz.
However, global oil markets got some respite with the announcement of a two-week ceasefire in the conflict. But, uncertainty prevails as a permanent solution is yet to be reached between the countries involved in the conflict.
