Crude oil prices settled lower on the New York market and in London Oct. 13 while dropping yet again in early Oct. 14 trading after the International Energy Agency reduced its forecast for global oil-demand growth for 2014.
Paris-based IEA on Oct. 14 trimmed its 2014 oil-demand growth forecast by 200,000 b/d to 700,000 b/d—its lowest in 5 years. The revision came in the IEA Oil Market Report (OMR) for October.
“Clearly there’s downward pressure on prices,” said Antoine Halff, head of the IEA’s oil industry and markets division. “If you look at the balances of the next few quarters, we see potentially more supply growth than demand growth.”
The OMR for October cited lower expectations of economic growth. Global oil demand growth for 2015 was forecast to rise tentatively to 1.1 million b/d, IEA said.
The monthly OMR publication gives an outline of the international oil market and makes forecasts for oil supply and demand 12-18 months ahead.
Energy prices
The New York Mercantile Exchange November crude oil contract dropped 8¢ on Oct. 13, closing at $85.74/bbl. The December contract price fell 13¢ to $84.98/bbl.
The natural gas contract for November gained 5.7¢ to a rounded $3.92/MMbtu. The cash gas price at Henry Hub, La., edged up by 1¢, closing at $3.87/MMbtu.
Heating oil for November delivery declined less than a penny to a rounded $2.56/gal. Reformulated gasoline stock for oxygenate blending for November delivery gave up less than a penny to a rounded $2.25/gal.
The November ICE contract for Brent crude oil was down $1.32 to close at $88.89/bbl. The December contract was down $1.17 to $89.41/bbl. The ICE gas oil contract for November gave up $3.25¢, settling at $760.50/tonne.
The average price for OPEC’s basket of 12 benchmark crudes was $85.93/bbl on Oct. 13, down 50¢.
Contact Paula Dittrick at [email protected].
