In a statement made on Monday, OPEC announced that the organization expects the global demand for oil to increase by 1.59 mln bpd to reach 98.6 mln bpd, an increase of 60,000 bpd compared to the previous forecast. OPEC and other producers, including Russia, have been decreasing supply since 2017. The cuts are planned to last until 2018. Despite the cuts in production, the International Energy Agency (IEA) expects the efforts to reduce inventories to fall short on expectations and for the global oil supply to surpass global demand this year. Also by extension, the oil prices fell for six sessions last week, destroying the year’s gains in a volatile stock market environment. The sharp decline in prices also increased demand expectations. IEA revised its global demand forecast upwards by 7.7%. – Reuters