The sea of crude oil drowning markets may be only half as deep as an influential estimate suggests. The Paris-based International Energy Agency, an alliance of 29 oil-importing nations including the United States, has contributed to the downturn in oil prices with its estimates that the global supply of oil is outpacing demand by about 2 million barrels per day, thanks to sluggish growth in fuel consumption by developing nations and a U.S. production boom. That imbalance is the main reason crude prices are 40 percent lower than a year ago. While there’s little dispute the world is producing more oil than it needs, independent analyses suggest the agency’s regular reports understate how much oil the world uses every day, and therefore exaggerate the size of the glut. Analysts reached the conclusion by examining what the agency calls its “miscellaneous to balance” figure, designed to reconcile its estimate of […]