Emphasising that more quantities of crude oil is coming into the international market, the Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday said that major consuming countries are not expected to face any shortfall.

“My understanding is they (OPEC+) have been actively reviewing their decision on production cuts... and that they may (come to a conclusion) in a month or two. But that’s their sovereign decision. All I am concerned with is that major consuming countries are not likely to face any shortfall of supplies on account of the fact that more and more oil is coming to the market,” Puri told journalists on the sidelines of CII’s public sector enterprises summit.

Puri’s comments come at a time when the benchmark Brent is hovering at $72 per barrel impacted by a surging US dollar weighing on commodities and concerns over demand growth.

For the fourth consecutive month, the OPEC has revised its estimates downwards, on growth in global oil demand.

“The global oil demand growth forecast for 2024 is revised down slightly by 1,07,000 b/d from the previous month’s assessment to 1.8 mb/d, year-on-year (y-o-y). This minor adjustment is mainly due to updated data for Q1 2024, Q2 2024 and Q3 2024. In 2025, global oil demand growth is also revised down slightly by 1,03,000 b/d from the previous month’s assessment to 1.5 mb/d, y-o-y,” OPEC said in its November 2024 monthly oil market report.

On more crude oil coming into the market, Puri said, “Brazilians, who have a production of about 3.3 million barrels per day (mb/d), are bringing about 3,00,000-4,00,000 more barrels per day (b/d) to the market. If our assessment is correct, the Americans will also bring another 1 mb/d additional oil in the market. The Canadians and Guyana may also do the same.”

“So, I think there is going to be more oil available. What we need is stability and predictability so that in the period ahead countries can base their decisions on lines which are predictable because fluctuations create uncertainty in the market and that is not good for healthy economic decision making. I think we are on a good wicket now.”

“Stability and oil prices depend both on availability and the global geopolitical situation calming,” Puri stressed adding that if there is trouble in one area or non-state actors are becoming active then it will result in shippers taking a longer route, which means increase in freight rates, insurance, etc.

“But, all things being equal, if there is more oil coming into the market, and if the global situation eases, then we can hope for a more predictable assessment,” he added.