IEA says sees little OECD oil demand recovery

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil demand in wealthy countries has not improved much and the patchy state of global recovery could prompt OPEC to keep output steady at its next meeting, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Tuesday.

High distillate stocks in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the group of 30 rich nations, underscored the sluggish rebound in those economies, since diesel is a key indicator of industrial activity, IEA executive director Nobuo Tanaka said.

“We are concerned that economic recovery expectations are very high. While that is true in China and India, in OECD countries like Europe and Japan, we have not seen much of an actual recovery in oil demand,” Tanaka told Reuters on the sidelines of an energyconference in the city-state.

As a result, the high oil and fuel stockpiles could stay OPEC’s hand, he added.

Reuters