Global oil demand will increase this year due to the prospects for improvement in the economy due to vaccination against the coronavirus

For this year, OPEC analysts expect the global economy to grow 5.1%, after a 3.7% contraction last year.

This Thursday the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) indicated thatAn increase in global oil demand for this year is estimated at 220,000 barrels per dayamid a notable rise in prices, which in February reached their highest level since January 2020, before the coronavirus pandemic emerged

The organization's most recent monthly report mentionsThe rise in prices and demand is due to the prospects of an improvement in the global economy this yearin the midst of mass vaccination of the population, especially in industrialized countries.

For this year, the analysts of the OPEC expects the global economy to grow by 5.1%, after a 3.7% contraction last year, marked by the beginning of the pandemic.

The countries that will grow the most this year will be China, with 8%, and India, with 9%, says the cartel in its report, issued in Vienna.

For the euro zone, the oil group now forecasts growth of 4.3%, while for the United States it is at 4.8%.

With this data,OPEC expects a strong increase in oil demand, which will stand at 96.27 million barrels per day (mbd), 5.9 mbd more than last year, when a drop of 9.6 mbd was recorded.

To address these figures, OPEC and its oil producing partners, led by Russia, decided last year to reduce their production by more than 9 mbd.

Despite cautious optimism about the recovery of the global economy after emerging from the pandemic, the group's analystsSeveral uncertainties stand out, such as the effectiveness of vaccines against virus mutations, the high level of public debt assumed by many countries and growing inflationary pressures.

“Although not imminent, a rise in inflation, especially in the United States and the euro zone, could cause stricter monetary policies, which must be monitored in the short term,” point out OPEC experts.

“In addition, disputes related to trade, especially between the United States and China, could continue,” warns the OPEC report for the month of March.

On the other hand, OPEC, to which thirteen countries in the Middle East, Africa and South America (Venezuela) belong, places the demand for its own oil in 2021 at 27.4 mbd, about 4.9 mbd more than the previous year.

Last February, OPEC crude oil demand stood at 24.85 mbd, some 650,000 barrels less than in January, the oil group's report states.