The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known as OPEC+, is monitoring demand in the United States, China, and India, the world’s three largest fuel markets.
In the United States, the world’s largest economy, gasoline demand is at 9.1 million barrels per day, highest since last August, according to U.S.
Over a holiday week at the beginning of April, congestion was up 20% from 2020 and up 53% from 2019, according to GPS data tracked by Chinese internet giant Baidu .
In the United States, several cities have had weekend congestion surpass 2019 levels, according to location technology company TomTom.
Weekend congestion in London in April was higher than 2019 levels, TomTom data showed.
Outside of London, traffic in most European cities, including Paris and Berlin, has been subdued by renewed lockdowns during a third wave of infections.
Last year’s lockdown slashed 2.5 million bpd, or about 50%, off Indian oil demand, said RBC Capital Markets’ Michael Tran, who said the country is the global oil market bellwether for demand growth.
Japanese officials declared states of emergency on Friday for Tokyo, Osaka and two other prefectures.