THE Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, has predicted that the Non-OPEC oil supply will grow by one million barrels per day in 2021.

THE Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, has predicted that the Non-OPEC oil supply will grow by one million barrels per day in 2021.

Speaking at the International Monetary and Financial Committee Meeting via videoconference, OPEC Secretary General, Mohammad Barkindo, said the global economy and, consequently, the global oil market have started to emerge from the severe crisis, caused by the Coronavirus pandemic.

He noted that in 2020, countries around the world virtually shut down, imposed travel restrictions and mandated social-distancing measures and these measures are still necessary for some regions to combat new waves of infections and virus mutations, with a recovery to pre-pandemic levels not yet projected for 2021.

Barkindo said with an estimated decline of 3.5% in 2020, the OPEC Secretariat forecasts global economic growth of 5.4% in 2021.

He said the measures to stem the spread of COVID-19 not only severely affected global economic growth, but also caused a historic demand shock in the oil market, which led to extreme volatility in oil prices.