It comes as concerns that global oil markets are recovering less quickly than previously expected have weighed on crude prices recently.
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The International Energy Forum, which groups producers and consumers, is due to meet on September 26-28 in Algiers.
Another bearish factor came in the form of a warning from the IEA (International Energy Agency).
Oil’s drop. has put the “glut” back into the headlines even though our balances show essentially no oversupply during the second half of the year.
In response, USA benchmark West Texas Intermediate for September delivery was down 16 cents from Wednesday to $41.55 a barrel while North Sea Brent for October delivery fell 14 cents to $43.91.
Global demand for oil will grow by 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2017, down from 1.4 million bpd this year, the IEA said. Production increased from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Iran, which was offset by countries like Nigeria, Libya, and Venezuela.
Global demand growth is expected to decline from 1.4 million bpd in 2016 to 1.2 million bpd in 2017, the IEA said, after a revision to the global economic outlook. An OECD inventory overhang continued to shift from crude into products during June, with commercial stocks swelling by 5.7 million barrels to a record 3 093 million barrels. The renewed production freeze talks are very vital in an oversupplied environment to provide fundamental support to prices.
“Crude oil stocks rose 1.06 million barrels to 523.6 million barrels”.
The Paris-based think tank lowered its forecast for oil demand growth for next year, saying the rebound in oil prices from their depths at the start of the year had slowed the market’s momentum.
On Wednesday, OPEC left its 2017 demand outlook unchanged at 95.41 million barrels per day, though that is still up from this year’s forecast of 94.26 million barrels per day.
Output from OPEC’s 14 nations roses 150,000 barrels a day last month to an eight-year peak of 33.39 million a day.
Output from non-Opec producers is still down 1.1 million bpd year-on-year, outstripping gains in production by Opec of 870,000 bpd, led by Saudi Arabia’s record output last month of more than 10.6 million bpd.
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Lower oil prices have forced high-cost producers such as the United States to slash spending and reduce drilling, resulting in an expected drop in non-OPEC output of 0.9 million bpd this year.
