UAE sees gradual oil demand recovery in 2021 – minister

The United Arab Emirates is optimistic about a recovery in oil demand in 2021, but says it won’t be immediate.

Rollout of coronavirus vaccines and improvement in ties between the United States and China are likely to improve demand for oil, Energy minister Suhail Al-Mazrouei told Sky News Arabia. “Recovery will be gradual, and won’t happen in a quarter or two,” he said.

Oil was poised for its first weekly loss since October as the discovery of a potentially faster-spreading variant of Covid-19 in the UK raised the risk of more energy demand-sapping lockdowns.

The UAE isn’t concerned about new mutations of the virus. “I haven’t seen any danger from these strains,” he said. “The global health sector can find a solution to this virus.”

The OPEC+ alliance of oil producers has successfully mitigated the impact of reduced demand, said Al-Mazrouei, and the UAE hopes more producers would join in the future.