Russia oil minister: Get ready for significant uptick in crude oil demand

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Thursday that oil demand would rise significantly in August and improve to 10% of the levels seen prior to the coronavirus crisis. 

The demand fell by 25% below the pre-crisis level of 100 million barrels per day (bpd) in April, Novak said. 

The demand destruction filled storage tanks across the globe, causing prices to drop sharply in April. Then active May futures contract on West Texas Intermediate, the North American oil benchmark, fell below zero for the first time on record. 

The OPEC+, a group of major oil producers led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, responded by deepening production cuts to 9.7 million barrels per day. The deal took effect on May 1 and will remain active till the end of July. 

From the next month till December, the cartel will withhold 7.7 million barrels of oil per day.