World's leading commodities trader sees demand for oil reaching its peak

Vitol, the world's largest commodities commodities trader, expects global oil demand to peak after 15 years, essentially marking "peak oil demand" for mid-1920s, along with other key players in the oil industry.

"We anticipate that oil demand will continue to grow over the next 15 years, even with a sharp increase in electric vehicle sales, but that demand growth will begin to be impacted later," Vitol said in a statement. outlook included in its 2018 volume report negotiations.

Last month, BP announced in its annual BP Energy Outlook report that demand for oil would increase over the first half of the outlook until 2040, but at a much slower pace than in the past, "before stabilize in the 2030s ".

Vitol acknowledged that the long-term prospects for oil demand in and outside the oil industry were becoming more and more centered. The leading independent trader also said he was "in favor of moving to more renewables" and presented recent investments in low-carbon joint ventures, notably in the largest portfolio of battery farms. from the United Kingdom. Vitol also plans to invest in renewable energy badets across Europe, with a focus on large-scale wind generation.

While recognizing the need for more green energy in the world, Vitol said: "However, we do not see how this can be achieved in all sectors in the short and medium term, without stopping economic development in the future. large areas of the world. world." Related: trade tensions limit oil prices

While the discourse on "peak oil demand" has intensified in recent years, Vitol's oil trading generated a turnover of $ 231 billion last year. , thanks to higher volumes of crude oil and traded products – 7.4 million barrels a day – and rising oil prices, the 2018 review has shown.

By way of comparison, in 2017, Vitol's sales amounted to 181 billion USD on 7 million barrels a day. Crude oil volumes, which continue to account for the majority of Vitol's business, reached 3.8 million bpd in 2018 compared to 3.6 million bpd in 2017.

The private trader, who does not disclose the full results, was one of the main winners of oil price volatility in the second half of last year, tripling its underlying profit in the second half compared to the first half , reported the Financial Times, citing people who saw Vitol's complete earnings for 2018.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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