Opec is taking a rosy view of global oil demand in 2022 despite concerns in other quarters that the Delta variant of Covid-19 could dampen economic activity and travel next year. In the group's latest Monthly Oil Market Report, published on Monday, Opec's number crunchers have raised their forecast of demand growth in 2022 by some 900,000 barrels per day to 4.2 million b/d (see table). The new forecast pegs annual demand in 2022 at 100.83 million b/d, surpassing the pre-pandemic annual record of 100.03 million b/d in 2019. Demand in the third and fourth quarters of next year is projected to exceed 102 million b/d. ... (full story)