Energy agency raises 2014 oil demand forecast to 92.6 mbd

The IEA on Thursday pushed up its forecast for 2014 oil demand to 92.6 million barrels per day due to a rebound in growth in advanced economies. The International Energy Agency increased the forecast, by 125,000 barrels per day, despite the tapering of US monetary stimulus slowing down oil demand growth in emerging economies. Meanwhile it said that global supplies slid by 290,000 barrels per day in January to 92.1 mbd, mostly due to non-OPEC producers, but this was still a 1.5 mbd gain from the previous year. OPEC output edged up to 29.99 mbd in January, while non-OPEC supplies fell by 390,000 barrels to 55.64 mbd. This rebound in advanced economies belonging to the 34-nation OECD, combined with a slip in output, has lead to commercial stocks hitting a six-year low. It noted OECD commercial stocks plummeted posted their steepest quarterly decline since 1999 at the end of last year, leaving stocks at the lowest since 2008. The IEA warned that OPEC, which supplies 35 percent of global crude, should produce well above the benchmark measure of the market's need for its output if badly depleted inventories are to be rebuilt.