IEA’s Tanaka says monthly oil forecast little changed

11 March 2010 11 March 2010

BonTrade

The IEA’s global oil demand forecast will likely be little changed this month, as economic uncertainty in developed nations overshadows emerging market growth, Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka said.

The IEA, which advises oil consuming nations, will release its monthly report on global energy supplies and demand tomorrow in Paris. The US Energy Department and OPEC increased their estimates this week, citing demand projections based on an economic recovery.

“There is so much uncertainty about the prospect of the economy,” Tanaka said in an interview at an IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates conference late yesterday in Houston. “Structural change is happening” along with “geopolitical risk and currency changes. Market players haven’t really determined direction yet.”

The IEA last month boosted its estimate for global oil demand in 2010 by 170,000 barrels a day to 86.5 million barrels, saying developing countries need more crude to fuel their economies. That would mean a gain of 1.6 million barrels a day, or 1.8 percent, from 2009 levels, it said.

“There is not much change in the underlying drivers in the market,” he said “The number won’t change very much.”