IEA revises up oil demand by 0.5m bbl/day for 2009, 2010

10 September 2009 11:11  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--The International Energy Agency (IEA) has revised up global oil demand for 2009 and 2010 by around 0.5 million bbl/day due mainly to stronger-than-expected economic data, the agency said in its monthly oil report on Thursday.

The upward revision is due to mostly to “stronger-than-expected data in OECD North America and non-OECD Asia”, with global oil demand expected to be 84.4m bbl/day for the reminder of 2009 and 85.70m bbl/day in 2010, the report said.

“There is growing evidence that the global economy may be finally stabilising, with industrial destocking coming to an end, coupled with the effects of large-scale government intervention,” the IEA said.

Refining margins, however, remained weak due to the current slowdown in demand and high global stock levels, the IEA said.

“Any increase in demand at the moment is being absorbed by the high inventory levels and not translating into better margins,” said an analyst who works for a refiner.

“Until stock levels return to normal levels, it is hard to see any improvement in margins,” the analyst said.

US crude futures rose by more than $1/bbl on Thursday, supported by a larger-than-expected fall in US crude stocks, Asian equity market gains and a weak US dollar.

Crude prices rose after weekly US inventory data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) on 9 September revealed a larger-than-expected fall in crude stocks of some 7.2m bbl.

The more widely followed data  from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), which is due out later on Thursday, were expected to show a decrease in oil inventories of about 1.5m bbl.

By 09:30 GMT, October Brent was trading at $70.24/bbl, up $0.41/bbl from the previous close, while October WTI was trading at $72.05/bbl, up $0.74/bbl.

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