LONDON: OPEC’s global oil demand forecast for 2023 was held steady for a third month on Thursday, with the producer group citing the potential Chinese growth to be offset by downside economic risks elsewhere such as the US debt ceiling.

World oil demand in 2023 will rise by 2.33 million barrels per day (bpd), or 2.3%, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said in a monthly report. This was virtually unchanged from 2.32 million bpd forecast last month.

“Minor upward adjustments were made due to the better than expected performance in China’s economy, while other regions are expected to see slight declines due to economic challenges that are likely to weigh on oil demand,” OPEC said in the report.