LONDON – Global demand for oil will fall this year by the most ever due to the economic lockdowns enforced around the world to contain the coronavirus pandemic, the International Energy Agency said Wednesday.
An estimated drop in demand of 9.3 million barrels a day this year is equivalent to a decade’s worth of growth. The agency, which advises nations on energy use, expects the slide in demand to be the most intense this month, calling it a “Black April” for the energy market. “We may see it was the worst year in the history of global markets,” said Fatih Birol, head of the IEA.
The price of crude has fallen about 60% since the start of the year due to a pricing war between Saudi Arabia and Russia and then the economic devastation wrought