Oil ticks higher after IEA, OPEC global demand forecasts; MCX crude up 3%, Brent at $78/bbl
₹6,149 per bbl, having swung between ₹6,000 and ₹6,157 per bbl during the session, against a previous close of ₹5,972 per barrel. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a larger than expected draw in crude inventories of 2.5 million barrels in the week ended Jan.
12. "The fear of another large build of total inventories has not materialized, modestly supporting prices," said Giovanni Staunovo, analyst at UBS. The IEA monthly report said it expects oil demand to grow by 1.24 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2024, up 180,000 bpd from its previous projection.
On Wednesday, the Organization of the Petroleum Producing Countries (OPEC) said it expected 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. The IEA's executive director, Fatih Birol, told the Reuters Global Markets Forum he expects oil markets to be "comfortable and balanced" this year despite Middle East tensions, rising supply and slowing demand growth.
In the U.S., about 40% of oil output in North Dakota's oil output remained shut-in due to extreme cold weather and operational challenges, the top oil-producing state's pipeline authority said on Wednesday. Last week the U.S. produced another record of 13.3 million barrels per day of crude oil, the EIA data showed.
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