On Monday, OPEC lowered its supply forecast for non-OPEC producers in 2015 by about 72,000 barrels per day.

OPEC slashes oil forecast for non-members

VIENNA, September 14, 2015 – On Monday, OPEC said that it expects oil production from non-OPEC members to increase more slowly in 2015 and 2016 than previously thought and predicted higher demand for its own oil.

OPEC now predicts that production from non-OPEC members will increase by 880,00 million barrels per day (bopd) in 2015 and by 160,000 bopd in 2016 as its policy of removing production caps and letting oil prices fall puts pressure on the suppliers with the highest costs.

The new expectations – published in OPEC’s September report – for production increases by non-OPEC members are 110,000 bopd lower for 2015 and 70,000 bopd lower for 2016 than forecasts in August.

The report increased its prediction for demand for OPEC oil in 2016 by 190,000 bopd to 30.31 million barrels. Demand for OPEC oil for 2015 is estimated to be 29.3 million bopd.

Overall growth in oil demand is expected to fall to 1.29 million bopd in 2016. A reduction of 50,000 bopd on last month’s prediction. Oil demand in 2015 is expected to grow by 1.46 million bopd in 2015.

“Recent data shows better-than-expected oil-demand in the main consuming countries. This is mainly driven by lower oil prices. At the same time, US oil production has shown signs of slowing. This could contribute to a reduction in the imbalance of oil market fundamentals, however, it remains to be seen to what extent this can be achieved in the months to come,” the organisation has said.