OPEC POINTS TO 2018 OIL SUPPLY DEFICIT AS MARKET TIGHTENS

LONDON: The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) raised its forecast on Monday for demand for its oil in 2018 and said its deal with other producers to cut output was reducing excess oil in storage, potentially pushing the global market into a deficit next year. OPEC also said in a monthly report it had cut its estimate of 2018 supply from producers outside the group and said oil use would grow faster than previously thought due to a stronger-thanexpected world economy. The world would need 33.42 million barrels per day of OPEC crude next year, up 360,000 bpd from its previous forecast and marking the fourth consecutive monthly rise in the projection from its first estimate made in July, it added.