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IEA Trims 2014 Oil Demand Growth Forecast

The International Energy Agency on Friday highlighted ongoing "elevated" risks in the oil market, as it trimmed its forecast for an increase in demand this year following Russia’s annexation of Crimea, but also warned of lower oil production. In its closely watched monthly report, the Paris-based energy watchdog lowered its 2014 forecast for Russian oil demand by 55,000 barrels a day to total 3.5 million barrels a day following the country’s annexation of Crimea last month and subsequent downgrades of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund’s views of the country’s growth. Further economic sanctions and pressure on Russia’s economy could cut its oil demand by a further 150,000 barrels a day this year, the IEA said. The IEA’s overall forecast for the increase in oil demand this year was cut by 100,000 barrels a day to 1.3 million barrels a day. The IEA also lowered […]

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IEA Says OPEC Will Need to Pump More Crude in Second Half

OPEC will need to pump more crude in the second half of the year to meet demand after its production plunged to a five-month low in March, according to the International Energy Agency . Supplies from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries “plummeted” by 890,000 barrels a day to 29.62 million barrels a day in March, the Paris-based IEA said today in its monthly oil market report. That’s below OPEC’s collective 30 million production target and means the group will have to increase output in the second half of the year, it said. “OPEC supply actually registered a steep drop in March from February highs, but this setback looks likely to be short-lived,” the IEA, an adviser to oil-consuming nations, said. “Prospects for OPEC output are also on the rise – though not without considerable political risk.” Brent crude oil prices have dropped 3.2 percent this year to trade […]

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Platts Survey: OPEC Pumps 29.56 Million Barrels of Crude Oil Per Day in March

Down 550,000 Barrels Per Day from February on Saudi, Iraqi and Libyan Cuts Oil production from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) plunged 550,000 b/d from February to 29.56 million b/d in March — its lowest level since mid-2011 — according to the latest Platts survey of OPEC and oil industry officials and analysts. The decline followed February production of 30.11 million b/d and was mainly attributable to insurgent attacks which shut a key export pipeline in Iraq, and a renewed downward swing in Libyan production. Saudi Arabia also reduced output because of lower refining demand due to maintenance. The survey showed Saudi output at 9.6 million b/d, down from 9.7 million b/d in February and the lowest level since June last year, when the kingdom’s output was estimated at 9.65 million b/d. Together, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Libya accounted for 440,000 b/d of the overall drop. […]

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OPEC to Cut Exports as Refinery Demand Slows, Oil Movements Says

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will cut crude exports this month to the lowest level since November as refinery demand slows in Europe and North America, according to tanker-tracker Oil Movements. OPEC, responsible for 40 percent of global oil supplies, will decrease shipments by 1.1 million barrels a day, or 4.6 percent, to 23.6 million a day in the four weeks to March 29, Oil Movements said in an e-mailed note. The figures exclude two of OPEC’s 12 members, Angola and Ecuador . Sailings were last this low in the four weeks to Nov. 16, when an extended maintenance period caused a fall in refinery demand, according to the consultant. “There is a spring low point for refinery demand sometime in April” in Europe and North America, Oil Movements founder Roy Mason , said by phone from Halifax, England . “Demand is going down and sailings respond to […]

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OPEC Production Surges as Iraq Pumps Most in 35 Years, IEA Says

OPEC crude production rose above its target for the first time in five months as Iraq pumped the most in 35 years, according to the International Energy Agency . The 12 members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries produced 30.49 million barrels a day in February, up from 29.99 million in January, the Paris-based IEA said today in its monthly oil market report. That’s about 300,000 barrels a day higher than the average level required in the second half of the year, according to the agency. Iraqi crude output jumped by 530,000 barrels a day to 3.62 million, driven by upgraded infrastructure in the country’s southern oil-producing region and the reduction of bottlenecks at its Gulf export facilities. That was the highest since 1979. Exports soared by 572,000 barrels a day to 2.8 million. “The exceptional increase in February’s exports has been an unexpected boost for the country, […]

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IEA Highlights Increases in Oil Supply

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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IEA says supply surge to ease oil tensions

The International Energy Agency expects the pressure on global oil markets to ease in spite of rising geopolitical tensions because of surging supply from Iraq and other producers. “While international tensions may be on the rise, the pressure on oil markets . . . seems set to ease”, the Paris-based group said in its widely followed monthly report, noting the extreme cold weather that had dug into US oil stocks in January had abated. US oil prices rose above $100 for the first time in five months in February because of exceptionally cold weather in the US and robust refining demand. Brent, the international marker, also rose, supported by fresh supply outages in Libya and the tensions in the Ukraine. However, in recent weeks prices have eased back. Nymex April West Texas Intermediate is currently trading at $98.36 a barrel, while ICE Brent April is at $107.44. The IEA, which advises Western governments […]

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Despite Shale, Middle East Remains Key to Oil Demand

The US shale revolution has helped reshape the global energy market, but Middle Eastern oil will remain vital for meeting future Asian energy demand, said IEA’s Fatih Birol. The U.S. shale revolution has helped reshape the global energy market, but Middle Eastern oil will remain vital for meeting future Asian energy demand, Fatih Birol, chief economist for the International Energy Agency (IEA), told attendees Feb. 21 at an event at Rice University in Houston. The significant growth that has occurred in recent years in U.S. unconventional oil production surpassed initial estimates by the IEA, which initially forecast that the United States would overtake Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest oil producer in 2017. This shift is now expected to occur next year, according IEA’s 2013 World Energy Outlook. Despite this growth, Middle East oil will still be needed to meet global oil demand in Asia, said […]

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Non-OPEC production lauded by IEA

– Production outside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries helped with the increase in oil output since last year, the IEA said Thursday from Paris. The International Energy Agency said in its monthly market report oil supplies since last January are up because of "steep growth" from non-OPEC members. The IEA, however, said global oil supplies in January declined by 290,000 barrels per day to 92.1 million bpd because of lower non-OPEC output. OPEC in its monthly market report, published Wednesday, said oil production from the Americas meant demand for OPEC crude from those markets was down. In terms of production, it said winter operations in the Bakken oil reserve area in North Dakota, the second-largest oil producing state in the United States, decreased because colder temperatures "freezes" the more viscous type of oil found there. For OPEC members, IEA said oil supply increased marginally […]

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International Energy Agency urges Opec to sustain oil production

Opec will need to sustain production at its current level of almost 30m barrels a day if badly depleted oil inventories in the developed world are to be rebuilt, according to the International Energy Agency. In its widely followed monthly report, the west’s energy watchdog said stronger than expected demand in the US and other industrialised nations had drained oil stocks to the lowest level in five years, tightening the market and supporting prices. Oil inventories in the OECD group of countries dropped by 1.5m barrels a day in the last three months of 2013, the steepest quarterly decline since 1999. “Far from drowning in oil, markets have had to dig deeply into inventories to meet unexpectedly strong demand,” the report said. Rising oil production from North America has led many forecasters to predict a supply glut and a decline […]

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