Oil demand growing at slowest rate since height of pandemic, says IEA

The International Energy Agency has warned that the world's demand for oil is growing at its slowest rate since the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, with prices slumping to three year-lows as producers oversupply the market. In the first half of the year, global oil demand increased by only 800,000 barrels per day, significantly lower than the growth seen in the same period last year, and attributed to weakening economic conditions, particularly in China.

China's oil demand has decreased for four consecutive months this year, a trend attributed to the country's accelerating transition to electric vehicles and its expansion of high-speed rail systems, which diminish the need for oil-based transportation. The IEA anticipates a slower resurgence in China's demand for oil due to ongoing efforts to reduce fossil fuel use in transportation, projecting that by 2030, nearly one in three cars in China will be electric.

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