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Friday, 29 August, 2008, 01:20 GMT | more prices >>

China and US spur demand



By Upstream staff 

A rebound in Chinese demand and stronger US consumption will drive up world oil demand this year, increasing the strain on Opec spare capacity, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said today.

The IEA forecast demand would grow at 2.2% in 2006, up from 1.3% growth in 2005.

At the same time, supplies are tight, with Opec spare capacity at less than 1.5 million barrels per day "below comfort levels", the IEA noted in its monthly report.

Spare capacity should build, with about 1 million bpd of new Opec oil scheduled to come on stream this year, but the IEA stressed there was "some statistical uncertainty".

In December last year, global oil supply reached 85 million bpd, up 600,000 bpd from November.

Non-Opec supply for 2005 was revised down by 90,000 bpd to 50.1 million bpd, roughly the same as for 2004.

World oil supply stood at 84.1 million bpd for 2005, outpacing demand that was trimmed by 90,000 bpd to 83.3 million bpd following weaker US consumption in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The call on Opec for 2006 was revised up to 28.6 million bpd, 200,000 bpd higher than last year.


Tuesday, 17 January, 2006, 09:29 GMT  | last updated: Tuesday, 17 January, 2006, 09:29 GMT

Thirsty: rising demand in China will help boost overall crude demand this year, the IEA said
 

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