Demand for oil will hit record levels and threaten recovery, says energy agency
Robert Lea, The Times
Demand for oil will hit an all-time high this year, the International Energy Agency has forecast.
The agency also warned that increased global consumption, fuelled by a near-20 per cent leap in demand in China, could choke off economic recovery in the UK and continental Europe.
The energy adviser estimated that oil demand worldwide would hit 86.6 million barrels of oil per day this year — 2 per cent higher than last year and an increase of 1.67 million barrels a day.
Demand is expected to just exceed the 86.5 million barrels a day consumed in 2007, the last full year before the onset of the global economic crisis.
The forecast is an upward revision by 100,000 barrels a day compared with the agency’s estimates last month…
(14 Apr 2010)
Saudi oil use to grow steeply
Tamsin Carlisle, The National
Saudi Arabia has emerged as the second-biggest source of global oil demand growth after China.
Higher oil consumption in the Arab world’s biggest economy is forecast to account for 11.7 per cent of global expansion this year, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said.
While that is still well behind China’s projected 26 per cent share of worldwide growth in oil consumption this year, the rising demand for crude and oil products in Saudi Arabia is outstripping increases in the major developing economies of Russia, Brazil and India.
(13 Apr 2009)
OPEC Holds Oil-Demand Forecast Steady
Spencer Swartz, Wall Street Journal
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries Wednesday maintained a cautious view about world oil demand and gave no indication it might pump more crude to quell the recent rise in oil prices.
Since early March, oil prices have closed above $80 a barrel for all but a handful of days, leading analysts to question whether OPEC is now getting more comfortable with a higher oil-price plateau preference. That view has gained traction following comments from some OPEC ministers in recent days that the group may stand pat even if crude-oil prices move north of $90 a barrel.
Since last year, most OPEC ministers have had an informal preference for prices to trade between $70 and $80 a barrel, a level seen as helpful for promoting energy investment but without hitting consumer pockets too hard. So far this month, however, prices—although off an 18-month peak hit last week—have closed between $84 and $86 a barrel.
But OPEC said it isn’t convinced those prices will persist for a variety of reasons, including excess quantities of unused crude globally. It also isn’t as optimistic about demand as others….
(13 Apr 2010)
