New Delhi, May 21 -- Global oil markets appear set for a gear-shift as the twin engines of demand weaken just as supply races ahead. The International Energy Agency's (IEA) May Oil Market Report foresees world oil demand growth sliding from a brisk 990 thousand barrels per day (kb / d) in the first quarter of 2025 to only 650 kb / d for the rest of the year, throttled by flagging economic activity and record electric-vehicle sales.

On average, demand is now expected to expand by 740 kb / d in 2025 and a modest 760 kb / d in 2026, despite ever-steeper declines in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries of 120 kb / d next year and 240 kb / d the year after.

Emerging economies and other non-OECD consumers w...