Oil pares gains as traders assess mixed signals on supply after IEA, OPEC revisions; Brent back to $79/bbl
Also Read: India's crude oil output down 1.03% to 2.5 MMT in December, imports rise 1.1% YoY: PPAC Back home, on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), crude oil futures due for a February 16 expiry, was last trading 0.06 per cent lower at ₹6,261 per bbl, having swung between ₹6,118 and ₹6,265 per bbl during the session, against a previous close of ₹6,265 per barrel. The International Energy Agency (IEA) this week raised its 2024 global demand forecast, but its projection is half that of producer group Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
The Paris-based agency also said that - barring significant disruptions to flows - the market looked reasonably well supplied in 2024. Last week, OPEC said in its monthly report that it expects a demand growth of 2.25 million bpd this year, unchanged from its forecast in December.
The producer group also said oil demand is expected to rise by a robust 1.85 million bpd in 2025 to 106.21 million bpd.
-Crude prices rose by around two per cent on Monday after a Ukrainian drone strike on Novatek's Ust-Luga Baltic fuel export terminal near Russia's second city St Petersburg raised supply concerns. The drone attack was a timely reminder that a bigger, more influential war is still raging on, according to analysts.
-Tensions also rose in the Middle East, where US and British forces carried out a second joint round of strikes on Houthi positions in Yemen on Monday night. Norway's crude production rose to 1.85 million barrels per day (bpd) in December, up from 1.81 million bpd the previous month.
-In Libya, production at the 300,000 bpd Sharara oilfield restarted on January 21 after the end of protests that had halted output since early this month. However, supply remains
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