The coronavirus outbreak is dealing a heavy blow to global oil demand, which is now expected to grow by just 480,000 bpd in 2020, compared to expectations of 1.1-million-bpd growth in December, OPEC said on Thursday, as it recommended a massive OPEC+ production cut of 1.5 million bpd in Q2 in response to the slump in demand. “[T]he COVID-19 outbreak has had a major adverse impact on global economic and oil demand forecasts in 2020, particularly for the first and second quarters,” OPEC said today, adding that “Moreover, the unprecedented situation, and the ever-shifting market dynamics, means risks are skewed to the downside.” This is OPEC’s second major downward revision of global oil demand growth for 2020 after the coronavirus outbreak. In its February Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR), OPEC had already slashed its global oil demand growth forecast for 2020, expecting the coronavirus outbreak to weigh heavily on […]