Brent oil price hovers near $118 as global demand comes back into focus

The price of a barrel of Brent oil opened Thursday’s trading session near $118 but recent gains now seem limited as global demand for crude oil comes back into focus after the latest IEA forecast is trimmed lower.

Latest Brent Oil Price

In London, Brent crude oil futures for March 2013 delivery was trading at $117.97 a barrel, or 0.2 percent higher at 07:18 GMT this morning on the ICE Futures Exchange. Meanwhile, New York’s NYMEX WTI crude settled at $97.01 a barrel at close yesterday, down 50 US cents from Tuesday’s price.

IEA Oil Demand Forecast for 2013

The IEA (International Energy Agency) has lowered its consumption forecast by 85,000 barrels a day compared with data from a month ago. The IEA now expects the world to use 90.7 million barrels of crude oil a day this year. Analysts have said that crude oil prices avoided dramatic fluctuations recently, mainly because of the difficulty in pinpointing what energy demand will be this year.

“Despite signs of improvement in China and the United States, weak macroeconomic conditions are forecast to keep global oil demand growth capped,” it said, estimating global demand in 2013 at 90.7 million bpd.

For a long term outlook, it maybe interesing to note that the IEA forecasts average oil prices of around $175 per barrel by the year 2017.

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This article was written by: JR @ liveoilprices.co.uk

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Brent oil price hovers near $118 as global demand comes back into focus