International Energy: The oil market is nearing equilibrium



13/04/2017 03:05 | Number of readings: 74


Trend Press / Agencies

The International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Thursday that the world oil market is nearing a return to equilibrium after nearly three years of oversupply, with output cuts by major exporters offsetting the long-term decline in rich countries.



The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said crude oil inventories fell 17.2 million barrels in March, while the first three months of the year increased by 38.5 million barrels or 425,000 bpd.



"It can be said with confidence that the market is very close to the balance already, and with more data, it will become clearer," the Paris-based agency said. A second half "of the year is" interesting ".



Total crude inventories in OECD countries fell 8.1 million barrels in February to 3.055 billion barrels, to stay above the five-year average of 330 million barrels, the International Energy Agency said.



The International Energy Agency (IEA) cut its forecast for world oil demand growth in 2017 by 40,000 bpd to 1.32 million bpd, warning that these estimates may be optimistic given the slowdown in consumption in the United States and Asia's advanced economies such as Australia, Japan and South Korea.



On the supply side, the agency reported that world production fell 755 thousand barrels per day in March to 95.98 million barrels per day, while OPEC and its partners are committed to a joint agreement to reduce production of 1.8 million barrels per day in the first half of this year.



The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has committed itself to a commitment to a "strong" level of 99 percent in March, the agency said, noting that non-Opec members, including Russia and Oman, have increased their commitment to 64 percent. Percent from 38 percent in February.



In 2017, the International Energy Agency said it expected non-Opec supply to increase by 485,000 barrels per day (bpd), up from 400,000 bpd in previous estimates, led by increases in US production growth.

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