Coronavirus Spread Could Drive Oil Demand Even Lower

The IEA's Oil Growth Outlook Is Already the Lowest in a Decade and May Be 'Revised Downward,' Official Says

Pump jacks and wells are seen in an oil field on the Monterey Shale formation where hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is used to extract gas and oil near McKittrick, Calif., on March 23, 2014. David McNew/Getty Images

A senior International Energy Agency (IEA) official said Tuesday that the global oil demand outlook—earlier forecast to be already the lowest in a decade—could fall even further as the deadly novel coronavirus continues to spread.

“We certainly see the lowest oil demand growth in the last 10 years and we may need to revise it ...downwards,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol told Reuters at an energy conference in London.