MOSCOW, October 12. /TASS/. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) expects the global oil demand will grow by 0.4 mln barrels per day this year, which is lower than the organization forecast at the start of 2026, OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al-Ghais said at the WPC Energy congress.

"At OPEC, we have revised our demand figure forecast for this year down from the beginning of the year in tandem with the events and the unfolding of events," Al-Ghais said. "We are now seeing demand growth this year at 400,000 barrels a day versus in the beginning of the year we had it at 1.4 million barrels a day," he noted.

"However, this demand... To be fair, [it] has been deferred to 2027, where we believe there will be pent-up demand next year. We have it now at a level of 1.7 million barrels a day growth for 2027," the Secretary General added.