Even as oil demand is beginning to weaken this year due to a brewing economic slowdown, the oil industry faces a longer-term threat to oil demand as bans on plastic begin to multiply. With cracks forming in oil demand in the transportation sector, the world’s largest oil companies, both publicly-traded firms and national oil companies, are increasingly diversifying their footprints. Integrated oil companies are stepping up investments in petrochemicals, viewing plastic as a more resilient source of demand than road fuels. “Oil use for cars peaks in the mid-2020s, but petrochemicals, trucks, planes and ships still keep overall oil demand on a rising trend,” the International Energy Agency wrote late last year. The IEA put out a special report on petrochemicals in October 2018, highlighting its importance to future oil demand. Through 2040, the petrochemical sector accounts for 5 million barrels per day (mb/d) of oil demand growth, the […]