The International Energy Agency said Thursday that higher than expected
Iranian oil production has helped stabilize the global oil market by offsetting
concerns generated by wildfires in Canada and violence in Nigeria.
In its monthly report, the Paris-based IEA said oil output from OPEC
countriesrose to 32.7 million barrels a day in April, a figure boosted by
Iran as its production increased faster than expected following the lifting of
international sanctions earlier this year.
The IEA is forecasting a sharp drop in the global oil supply surplus by the
year's end, which should push the market toward "much-anticipated
balance" after a volatile couple of years.
Oil prices fell in April after leading producers failed to agree on
production cuts, but have since risen after troubles in oil-producing Canada
and Nigeria threatened output.
The IEA said it's unclear how deeply the damage from a devastating, ongoing
wildfire in Canada's oil sands town of Fort McMurray will hurt overall
production.
In Nigeria, Shell closed the terminal exporting the country's benchmark
Bonny Light crude oil Wednesday and evacuated workers from a threatened oil field
after new deadly violence by militants demanding a bigger share of the
country's oil wealth. Chevron's Escravos oil and gas facility closed after a
bomb attack.
The IEA also noted concern about falling production in Libya, which is
split among warring factions, and economically atrophying Venezuela.
Overall oil prices have recovered slightly this year to the $45 a barrel
range but remain much lower than in recent years.
Despite concerns about a global economic slowdown, oil demand grew more
than originally thought in the first quarter, the IEA said. It's maintaining
its forecast for global oil demand growth of 1.2 million barrels per day for
2016.
(
w
ww.cbc.ca)