U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Tuesday tuned down its global oil demand forecast in 2019.
In its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), EIA forecast global oil demand will rise by 1.1 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2019, 0.2 million b/d less than the forecast in the June STEO. In 2020, EIA expected demand growth to average 1.4 million b/d.
EIA forecast global oil inventories will increase by 0.1 million barrels per day (b/d) in both 2019 and 2020. Rising global oil inventories largely reflect an increasingly weak outlook for global oil demand in 2019.
As for the United States, EIA forecast annual U.S. crude oil production will average 12.4 million b/d in 2019 and 13.3 million b/d in 2020, with most of the growth coming from the Permian region of Texas and New Mexico.
According to the organization, the U.S. crude oil and petroleum product net imports will average 0.6 million b/d in 2019, down from an average of 2.3 million b/d in 2018. EIA forecast the United States will be a net exporter of crude oil and petroleum products at a rate of 0.1 million b/d by the fourth quarter of 2019 and by an average of 0.5 million b/d in 2020.
In terms of oil prices, EIA said Brent crude oil spot prices averaged 64 U.S. dollars per barrel in June, 7 dollars per barrel lower than in May 2019 and 10 dollars per barrel lower than the price in June of last year.
EIA forecast Brent spot prices will average 67 dollars per barrel in the second half of 2019 and remain at that level in 2020. EIA expected West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices will average 62 dollars per barrel in the second half of 2019 and 63 dollars per barrel in 2020.
Editor:Cherie
