Global Oil Demand Could Reach New Heights In 2022

Oil demand suffered a severe blow last year when the initially ignored coronavirus in China spread around the world and started prompting lockdowns. Then the wave receded, and oil demand began to rebound, much faster than most expected. Despite the green transition push, demand will continue to recover into next year, too, and those after it. Many forecasters, including BP, in 2020 argued that peak oil was already past us and what we had to look forward to was a more renewable energy mix. And then Covid-19 case numbers in key markets began to decline, and oil demand began to rise. Since then, demand has rebounded so strongly that it has led forecasts to start warning of the possibility of a shortage. Saudi Arabia recently warned that underinvestment in new oil and gas production would lead to higher prices and supply crunches.