OPEC and IEA say prices will stay lower for longer
An oil platform off Angola. Production by OPEC members has reached record levels. (Galp)
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has said that the pace of global oil demand growth is dropping more quickly than initially predicted. In its latest monthly outlook, the agency lowered its forecast for oil demand growth in 2016 by 100,000 barrels per day, to 1.3 million b/d. It forecast the growth rate would be even lower in 2017, at 1.2 million b/d.
With OPEC producers pumping at close to record-high levels, the stock overhang that has stymied oil price rallies in recent months looks set to continue. Non-OPEC production has been dropping because of low prices, but not by enough to eat into bloated inventories. The IEA estimated that oil inventories in OECD countries hit a new record high in July, of 3.1 billion barrels, a rise of 32.5 million bbl from the previous month.