Oil Market Stabilizing, International Energy Agency Says
Oil prices have stabilized on the back of steady demand, the International Energy Agency said in its monthly outlook released April 14.
The IEA estimates global oil demand to average 95.9 million barrels per day in 2016, representing an increase of 1.2 million barrels per day over 2015. Much of the growth is expected to come in the fourth quarter of the year, the agency said.
Alongside demand estimates, which the IEA did not change despite subdued market sentiment assessments from the International Monetary Fund, the agency also said declining non-OPEC supply was responsible for balancing the oil markets.
Oil supplies dropped by 0.3 million barrels a day in March, to 96.1, driven by a drop in non-OPEC supplies. Declines in output from the U.S. and Canada were among the factors affecting non-OPEC supplies, while outages in Nigeria and Iraq dampened OPEC supplies.
Crude oil prices are currently trading at around $40 per barrel, which has remained steady since the last IEA monthly report.
