Crude fell to its lowest price in seven years on Friday after the world’s leading energy forecaster said oil inventories would continue to swell next year with supply outstripping demand. Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, fell $2.37 to $37.36 a barrel in afternoon trading — its lowest since December 2008. West Texas Intermediate, the US oil benchmark, dropped $1.09 to $35.67 a barrel, a level last reached in February 2009. The benchmarks have declined 13 per cent and 11 per cent respectively in the past week. Prices fell on Friday after the International Energy Agency said Iran’s return to world markets next year, when sanctions are lifted, would add to a supply glut. “As extra Iranian oil hits the market, inventories are expected to swell by 300m barrels,” the Paris-based group said in its monthly oil market report. “And as inventories continue to swell into 2016, there will still be a lot of oil weighing on the market.”