Total world crude oil production declined by 6.15 million barrels per day (mb/d), or 8.2 per cent in 2020, a new report by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has stated.
According to the oil cartel in its 2021 Annual Statistical Bulletin released Wednesday, the figure as compared to 2019, averaged 69.09 mb/d, marking a historical year-on-year drop notably after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Specifically, OPEC revealed that its crude oil production declined sharply year-on-year by 3.72 mb/d, or 12.7 per cent, while crude production by non-OPEC countries fell by 2.43 mb/d, or 5.3 per cent in the year under review.
“With an average of 90.73 mb/d in 2020, world oil demand was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and fell by a historic 9.30 mb/d y-o-y,” the report stated.
Also, oil demand in OPEC member countries was sluggish in 2020, losing 8.2 per cent y-o-y.
“Distillates and gasoline accounted for around 55.1 per cent of 2020 world oil demand with a steep downward trend, amid COVID-19 containment measures. Residual fuel oil requirements were about 7.1 per cent of total oil demand in 2020. At the same time, OECD oil demand fell sharply in 2020, while in the non-OECD it declined for the first year in history.
“OPEC member countries exported an average of 19.70 mb/d of crude oil in 2020, a sharp decrease of about 2.78 mb/d, or 12.4 per cent, compared to 2019 and marking the fourth consecutive annual decline.
“Following the pattern in previous years, the bulk of crude oil from OPEC member countries – 14.43 mb/d or 73.2 per cent – was exported to Asia, particularly China and India. Considerable volumes of crude oil – about 3.13 mb/d – were also exported to OECD Europe in 2020, which, however, represents a decline compared with 3.74 mb/d recorded in 2019. OECD Americas imported 0.84 mb/d of crude oil from OPEC member countries, which was about 0.38 mb/d, or 31.1 per cent, less than the 2019 volumes.
