The International Energy Agency Friday said the amount of unused oil in industrialized nations neared a record high as of July, the most recent month for data available, indicating that crude prices are likely to remain trading at comfortable levels for consumers for some time.

Bolstering that prospect, the Paris-based agency, in its monthly oil market report, also cautioned that global oil demand was expected to ease in the months ahead due to the sluggish pace of economic recovery.

"We do see oil demand slowing in the second half globally," said David Fyfe, editor of the agency's oil market report. He added that the IEA, which serves as an energy advisor to mostly industrialized nations, saw "an amply supplied [world] oil market until at least 2011," although that timeline could stretch even farther out if the global economy deteriorates.

Oil inventory in July in the U.S. and other industrialized nations--which collectively comprise about 53% of world demand--stood at 61.4 days of what is known as forward demand cover, a metric that gives a general flavor of the health of oil consumption and the amount of supply in storage facilities.

That is approaching a record hit in August 1998, the IEA said, and compares with an average level of around 55 days seen earlier this decade. Preliminary data indicate a fifth straight monthly increase in oil inventory in August, it said.

The growth in world crude demand this year was basically kept unchanged at 1.9 million barrels a day versus the IEA's August report, with total consumption seen at 86.6 million barrels a day, or 2.2% above 2009. But that projected increase is expected to ease considerably next year to growth of just 1.5%.

A key reason for that call is less stellar oil consumption in China , the biggest driver of the growth in world crude demand. Consumption there for 2011 is expected to increase by 4.3%, representing a downward revision from 4.6% in August. The latest estimate represents just half of the growth the IEA expects this year in China, the world's second biggest oil consumer after the U.S.

Still, despite that bearish indicator, crude prices remain entrenched in a trading range of $70-80 a barrel, a level that has held firm the past year as prices have often been driven by equity markets and other non-oil fundamental factors.

Friday, front-month light, sweet crude futures for delivery in October traded at $75.72 a barrel at 0835 GMT, up $1.47 a barrel in the Globex electronic session.

Fyfe said the IEA's forecasts on Chinese oil demand were bound to be revised up or down in the months ahead because China 's state economic bureau had recently said it was making revisions to historical oil consumption data going back several years.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' expects world oil demand growth at just about half the level the IEA is forecasting, underlining the cartel's downbeat assessment of state of the world crude market.

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