IEA sees upside risks for oil
LONDON (Reuters) - Surging oil demand and faltering supplies mean the oil market faces upside risks over the next few months, the West's energy watchdog said on Wednesday.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its monthly report that after eight consecutive quarters of contraction, oil demand in the world's heavily industrialised countries returned to growth in the second quarter of this year.
Since then demand for fuel had accelerated, particularly in the United States, the world's biggest oil consumer. Last month, U.S. oil demand jumped back above 20 million barrels per day (bpd) for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis.
"Consumption growth has since been gaining momentum," said the IEA, which advises most of the largest consuming countries on energy policy.
"Oil markets participants have been bracing themselves for a soft patch in the first quarter. But upside risk to oil markets, from both the supply and the demand sides, is proving remarkably persistent."
The Paris-based agency revised up its estimates for global oil demand growth by 145,000 bpd to 1.2 million bpd for 2013 and by 110,000 bpd to 1.2 million bpd for 2014.
(Reporting by Christopher Johnson; editing by Jason Neely)
