Last year, the oil market faced a lot of challenges. Therefore, any reason for optimism counts.  An unexpectedly positive outlook for oil from OPEC revived hopes for a better future. During the meeting of the Joint Technical Committee via videoconference, OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo said he expected the coming year to be good for the energy market that would finally see recovery and growth. According to the revised forecast, global oil demand will rise by 5.9 million barrels per day to 95.9 million barrels in 2021. In the previous year, fuel demand declined by 9.8 million barrels per day. “With the crude oil market currently switching into backwardation, we are hopeful that 2021 will be a good year for overall demand,” Barkindo said. Backwardation is when current oil prices are higher than the expected prices in the future. The Secretary General highlighted the improving prospects for the global economy which is forecast to grow by 4.4% in 2021 against a drop of 4.1% last year. This is a substantial shift for the economy, Barkindo stressed.  He also pointed out that the oil industry required $12.6 trillion in investments as they fell by a third in 2020 amid weak oil demand and low prices.