Brent crude rose 1% on Monday, lifting shares in UK oil majors BP PLC (LSE:BP.) and Shell PLC (LSE:SHEL, NYSE:SHEL), even as OPEC lowered its forecast for global oil demand growth in 2025 and cut its economic outlook.
The oil producer group now expects demand to rise by 1.3 million barrels per day next year — 150,000 fewer than previously estimated — citing weaker first-quarter data and the impact of newly announced US trade tariffs.
In its latest monthly report, OPEC also reduced its global economic growth forecasts for 2024 and 2025, warning that trade tensions had introduced greater uncertainty to the near-term outlook.
Despite the revision, OPEC remains more bullish than the International Energy Agency, maintaining that oil demand will continue to grow beyond this decade.
BP shares were up 5% at 347.82p while Shell was up 3% at 2,375.57p.