IEA likely to lower its crude oil demand forecasts

The International Energy Agency is likely to lower its global crude oil demand forecasts significantly as more bleak economic data emerges, its chief said on Thursday.

"The possibility for downward revision will be high," Nobuo Tanaka, the agency's executive director, told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of a Paris conference.

"We now have data from not only the IMF, but also the OECD. They all look gloomy. Inevitably, the possible downward revision could be significant, but I cannot say how big."

The IEA, the energy adviser to 28 developed countries, will release its next monthly oil market report in mid-April.

The agency bases its oil demand forecasts on the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which has been increasingly pessimistic about the health of the economy.

Tanaka reiterated his view that the fall in oil prices provided a natural stimulus for the global economy.

"Oil prices averaged almost $100 a barrel last year and this year, maybe $40. This $60 decline in oil prices will provide a $1 trillion dollar stimulus for the global economy."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-Oil/ … BM20090402