A relentless increase in oil supply from the U.S. and Canada and a surprise surge in Iraqi crude production last month is offsetting demand pressures bought about by the cold winter in the U.S. and geopolitical concerns over the rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine, the International Energy Agency said Friday. “While international tensions may be on the rise, pressure on oil markets, ceteris paribus, seems set to ease,” the Paris-based energy watchdog said in its closely-watched monthly report on the oil market. The cold snap in the U.S., which has seen commercial oil inventories in industrialized countries plummet this winter to hit a whopping 154 million barrels below the seasonal average last month, is abating. Meanwhile, oil supply looks comfortable. The IEA expects supply from outside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to rise by 2 million barrels a day in the first quarter of […]

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