Paris – (dpa)
Published on: Thursday, February 15, 2024 – 7:29 PM | Last updated: Thursday, February 15, 2024 – 7:29 PM
A report issued by the International Energy Agency on Thursday said that global oil inventories fell by approximately 60 million barrels last month, reaching their lowest levels since 2016.
The agency said, in its monthly report, that this decline comes despite the clear weakness in demand, which indicates the severe impact of stopping oil extraction in the polar regions of the United States and Canada, in addition to reducing production in a number of OPEC Plus countries that export oil.
It is noteworthy that stocks increased during last December, thanks to the increase in the quantities of stocks in floating tanks compared to the decline in the quantities in ground warehouses.
The agency, which is based in Paris, said, “The escalation of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East has led to increased pressure (on prices) with oil tankers moving away from passing through the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait due to the Yemeni Houthi group targeting commercial ships linked to Israel and entering into an armed confrontation with… US naval forces in the region.
The agency indicated that the decline in inventories will exacerbate the impact of supply and demand shocks due to the decline in the ability to use inventories to confront any increase in demand or disruption in supply.
She added that as it celebrates its fiftieth anniversary this week, securing oil supplies is still as vital an issue as it was before.
At the same time, the International Energy Agency expects global demand for oil to grow thanks to increased consumption in China, and to a lesser extent in Brazil and India, as the three countries represent about 78% of the expected increase in global demand during the current year.
The agency expects demand to reach a new record level of 103 million barrels per day.
2024-02-15 17:30:05
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