World oil demand is expected to grow lesser this year than earlier estimates and output should grow faster than thought previously, resulting in a more balanced market, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Tuesday.
The agency hiked its production forecasts from regions outside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), while also lowering its expectations of demand from developed economies, according to a monthly update of EIA’s Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO).
The EIA now expects total world crude oil and liquid fuels production to rise by 970,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 102.76 million bpd this year, compared with its previous estimate of an 850,000 bpd increase.
The agency also slightly lowered its estimate of last year’s global oil and liquids output to 101.79 million bpd from 101.80 million bpd earlier.
World oil and liquid fuels consumption is now expected to grow by 920,000 bpd this year to 102.84 million bpd, slightly smaller than the 950,000 bpd growth forecast by EIA in the April update of its STEO.
(Reporting by Shariq Khan and Laila Kearney in New York Editing by Nick Zieminski)