COVID-19: Almost 110m people have been sickened by the virus

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, has observed that almost 110 million people have been sickened by the virus, while over 2.4 million have died, and millions of livelihoods destroyed, due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

In his opening statement at the 11th IEA-IEF-OPEC Symposium on Energy Outlooks, 17 February 2021, via videoconference, HE Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, OPEC Secretary-General, said: “Some commentators have noted that the energy industry may have been the most impacted of all sectors by the pandemic. As the world economy contracted by 4.1% in 2020, global oil demand declined by 9.7 mb/d. The nadir of this annus horribilis came in April. Industry veterans saw things happen that they could never have imagined possible.

“Oil demand plunged 22% during the month and on 20 April 2020, WTI went negative for the first time in history, with prices plummeting to -$37. In response to this unprecedented situation, OPEC knew it had to act. Thankfully, we did not need to reinvent the wheel. We turned to the mechanism that had helped us emerge out of the 2015-2016 oil market downturn: the ‘Declaration of Cooperation.’

“Together with our partners and ably supported by the Saudi Arabian Presidency of the G20, we agreed on 12 April 2020 to the largest and longest-in-duration production adjustments in the industry’s history.

“Thereafter, participating countries have subsequently adjusted these decisions to proactively anticipate market developments, improve the core principles upon which our enterprise was founded (transparency, equity, and fairness) and compensate for over-produced volumes. High conformity levels with these production adjustments have been a testimony to the depth of our commitment.

“Consequently, we have seen a recovery in the industry that has multiplier benefits for the global economy. While there are grounds for optimism that 2021 will be the year of recovery, there are many uncertainties ahead. As the IMF recently stated, “Much now depends on the outcome of this race between a mutating virus and vaccines to end the pandemic, and on the ability of policies to provide effective support until that happens. There remains tremendous uncertainty and prospects vary greatly across countries.”