<article><p class="lead">UAE energy minister Suhail al-Mazrouei said today that he is optimistic that global oil demand will return to the levels seen before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic by the end of this year, or early in 2022 at the latest.</p><p>"I am more optimistic than the numbers, because I am confident that the [Opec+] group will continue working hard to ensure that we are balancing the market faster than we anticipated. We have seen that the recovery has been, I think, better than anyone was expecting," al-Mazrouei said.</p><p>"As we are going into the first months of the year, I am optimistic that by the end of the year, or beginning of 2022, we will see that balance," he said.</p><p>In <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2168765">its latest forecasts</a>, the Opec secretariat projected global oil demand will rise by 5.9mn b/d to 95.89mn b/d this year. This is around 4mn b/d below the 99.76mn b/d demand seen in 2019, and more than 6mn b/d below the 102mn b/d of demand that Opec had forecast for 2021 before the pandemic.</p><p class="bylines">By Nader Itayim</p></article>
