IEA to Cut Global Oil Forecast on Slower U.S. Economy

The International Energy Agency will cut its forecast for global oil demand this year because slower economic growth in the U.S. will curb consumption.

The energy adviser to 27 oil-consuming nations will revise its outlook “slightly downward,” Nobuo Tanaka, executive director, said in Houston yesterday. The agency is due to release its forecast later today. The IEA on Jan. 16 cut its first-quarter demand estimate by 100,000 barrels a day because of a mild U.S. winter.
The Group of Seven industrial nations ended their Feb. 10 meeting in Tokyo saying that “downside risks persist” globally, including a U.S. housing slump and tighter credit conditions. Oil has fallen 7 percent from a record $100.09 a barrel on Jan. 3 on concern that slower growth in the U.S., the world’s biggest energy user, may limit demand for fuels.

“We are watching carefully the U.S. economy and watching how other international organizations see the situation,” Tanaka told reporters at the Cambridge Energy Research Associates conference. The “downward trend is a major reason for this.”

Bloomberg