OMC stocks recover off lows after OPEC's bullish demand forecast; BPCL up 3%, IOC, HPCL hit 52-week highs

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₹145.60 apiece on the BSE. Similarly, shares of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) surged significantly and were locked at five per cent upper circuit to hit a 52-week high mark of ₹461.80 apiece on the BSE. Also Read: ‘Oil markets well supplied’, says IEA as it raises 2024 global demand forecast; projects lower than OPEC Additionally, shares of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) rose around three per cent to hit an intraday high of ₹480.75 against a 52-week high of ₹482.05 apiece on the BSE.

BPCL will announce its October-December quarter results for fiscal 2023-24 (Q3FY24) on January 29, 2024. OPEC stuck to its forecast for relatively strong growth in global oil demand in 2024 and said 2025 will see a robust increase in oil use, led by China and the Middle East, in a surprise early prediction. The 2025 forecast is in line with the OPEC's view oil use will keep rising for the next two decades, in contrast to bodies such as the International Energy Agency, which predicts it will peak by 2030 as the world shifts to cleaner energy.

OPEC, in a monthly report, said that world oil demand will rise by 1.85 million barrels per day in 2025 to 106.21 million bpd. For 2024, OPEC saw demand growth of 2.25 million bpd, unchanged from last month. In 2025, OPEC anticipates an increase in global economic growth to 2.8 per cent from 2.6 per cent this year in part because of interest rate cuts.

China, the Middle East and India will drive the increase in oil consumption, said OPEC. OPEC adjusted its production figures lower to reflect the exit from the group of Angola, announced by Luanda last month and said that, as of December, its crude output amounted to 26.5 per cent of the world oil market. Additionally, the