IEA sees oil supply growth exceeding demand in ‘07

LONDON (Reuters) – World oil demand will grow more quickly in 2007 than this year despite high prices, but rising output from producers outside
OPEC will ease the strain on supply, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday.

Global demand in 2007 will rise by 1.57 million barrels per day, the adviser to 26 industrialized countries said in a report. That is up from 1.21 million bpd this year, an estimate trimmed by 30,000 bpd from last month’s report.

The outlook points to an easing of the burden on members of OPEC as supply from rival producers rebounds next year to grow more quickly than global demand. A strain on supplies has powered oil’s climb to record highs this year.

“Although we still have an uncertain geopolitical background, the picture does look a little bit more comfortable next year,” Lawrence Eagles, head of the IEA’s Oil Industry and Markets division, told Reuters.

Reuters