IEA Declares Oil Demand Falling

04-11-2008

The International Energy Agency (IEA) said today oil demand is falling and as a result the world oil market is becoming more balanced.

IEA Executive Director, Nobuo Tanaka said at a Conference in Paris, " Demand is slowing down .... we are moving towards a more balanced market,"

Asked whether Opec should raise its output, the IEA head said oil inventories should replenish if the group kept pumping at current levels.

Opec's head of research Hasan Qabazard also said on the sidelines of the same conference that demand was falling in the world's biggest energy consumer, the US.

"There is lower gasoline demand in the US which is translating into lower crude (demand), roughly 400,000-450,000 barrels per day," he told reporters.

He said the 13 members of the producer group, including Iraq that does not have a formal output target, were pumping a total of 32.25 million bpd.