• As per the oil producers’ cartel OPEC, India’s oil demand will rise at the fastest pace globally this year and the next, even as its economic expansion has slowed down.

Findings of the OPEC Report:

• India’s oil demand is projected to rise by 3.21% to 4.88 million barrels per day (mb/d) in 2019 from 4.73 mb/d in the previous year.
• In 2020, it will further rise by 3.36% to 5.05 mb/d.
• This outpaces China’s oil demand growth of 2.73% in 2019 and 2.37% in 2020.
• China is the world’s second-biggest oil consumer at 13.06 mb/d in 2019, behind only the U.S. whose consumption is projected at 20.94 mb/d.
• World oil demand in 2019 is expected to grow by 1.02 mb/d, which is 0.08 mb/d lower than the previous projection.

About OPEC:

• Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries(OPEC) is an inter-governmental organization of 14 nations as of February 2018.
• It was founded in 1960 in Baghdad by the first five members (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela).
• OPEC's stated mission is "to coordinate and unify the petroleum policies of its member countries and ensure the stabilization of oil markets.
• As of 2016, the 14 countries accounted for an estimated 44 percent of global oil production and 73 percent of the world's "proven" oil reserves, giving OPEC a major influence on global oil prices that were previously determined by American-dominated multinational oil companies.
• It is headquartered in Vienna, Austria, since 1965.