Global oil demand fell by 614,000 barrels per day (bpd) in December compared to November 2025, and plunged by 536,000 bpd from December 2024, driven by lower U.S. demand, the monthly report by the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI) showed on Thursday.
At the same time, oil production surged by 2 million bpd in December 2025 compared to the same month of 2024, according to the most recent data self-reported by 48 countries to JODI and shared by the Riyadh-based International Energy Forum (IEF).
The surge in supply was mostly due to the OPEC+ group unwinding most of their production cuts in the second half of 2025, and to increased supply from the non-OPEC producers in the Americas, with the United States, Guyana, Brazil, and Argentina leading the increases outside OPEC+.
In terms of demand, the December decline compared to both November 2025 and December 2024 was driven mainly by lower demand in the U.S., partially offset by higher demand in some Asian countries and Canada.
The annual growth in global oil supply, for its part, was driven by higher production mainly from Saudi Arabia (where output jumped by 1.18 million bpd), the U.S. (up 379,000 bpd), Canada (a 219,000 bpd increase), Kuwait (a 173,000 bpd rise), Norway (where new field start-ups boosted output by 137,000 bpd), and Venezuela (with output up by 122,000 bpd from a year earlier).
Crude oil inventories in JODI-reporting countries fell by 22 million barrels in December from November, settling at 111.7 million barrels below the five-year average, JODI’s data showed. Product inventories, however, rose by 67 million barrels from November, to settle at 59.6 million barrels higher than the 5-year average.
Despite the perceived oversupply on the market, oil prices have jumped in recent days amid geopolitical flare-ups and many sanctioned barrels from Russia sidelined by key buyers such as India, which tightens the market contrary to earlier analyst expectations.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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