The International Energy Agency lowered its forecast for global oil demand this year, while thousands of European truckers protested high fuel prices, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.
The IEA said continued high global demand for oil is sending markets surging, AP said. “Supply growth so far this year has been poor and higher prices are needed to choke off demand to balance the market,” the group said in its monthly report.
The agency said global oil demand would grow 0.9%, or 800,000 barrels a day this year, down from an earlier forecast of 1.2%, or 1 million barrels.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of truckers in Spain, France and Portugal stepped up protests this week against rising fuel prices, blocking highways and border crossings, AP said.
Spain’s second largest truckers’ union, Fenadismer, which represents 70,000 out of the country’s 380,000 truckers, launched an open-ended strike Monday, which was peaceful but followed in huge numbers, AP reported.
The strikers’ goal was to block oil supplies from refineries and stocks at retail markets this week, AP said, citing the Spanish newspaper ABC.
