IEA sees slip in global oil demand
Posted: 14 April 2008
 Send this article
 Print this article
World oil demand will rise less than expected in 2008 because of slower economic growth in the United States and other industrialised countries, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), Reuters news agency reported.
Global consumption will rise by 1.27 million barrels per day (bpd), 460,000 bpd less than the previous forecast, said the IEA, adviser to industrialised countries, in its monthly Oil Market Report.
The assessment follows the latest outlook from the International Monetary Fund, which this week issued lower economic growth forecasts. Growth in top oil consumer the US this year was cut to 0.5% from 1.5%.
“The latest GDP projections from the IMF suggest less robust oil demand growth in the coming months,” the IEA said. “This report projects April and May oil balances tipping towards a supply surplus.”
Lower demand in members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) accounted for the bulk of the revision. The IEA cut expected OECD demand this year by 320,000 bpd to 48.9 million bpd, the Reuters report said.
The agency also trimmed its forecast for 2008 demand in China, the world's second-largest oil consumer, by 70,000 bpd, partly due to weather-related effects in the first quarter.
The reduction brings the IEA’s global demand forecast closer to that of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which expects growth of 1.2 million bpd this year.
But the IEA said weaker demand might not translate into lower oil prices given supply risks in countries such as Nigeria and Iraq. |
