The global oil market is relatively well supplied with demand growth slowing, while supply is increasing from the Americas, the head of the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) oil markets and industry division told Reuters on Thursday.
“Depending on the pace of oil demand growth going forward, the strength of summer demand, any unexpected outages, we see that the market (is) relatively well supplied this year,” Toril Bosoni said on a sidelines of an industry conference in Oslo.
The IEA therefore expects “relatively calm markets” even though the OPEC+ group recently decided to extend supply cuts, she added.
OPEC+ members led by Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed on Sunday to extend voluntary oil output cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day into the second quarter, giving extra support to the market amid concerns over global growth and rising output outside the group.
While oil demand last year grew by some 2.3 million barrels per day (bpd), the increase in 2024 is expected to be smaller, at 1.2 million to 1.3 million bpd, Bosoni said.
The IEA expects supply to grow to a record high of about 103.8 million bpd, almost entirely driven by producers outside OPEC+, including the United States, Brazil and Guyana.
“So far, that’s sufficient to meet the demand growth,” Bosoni said.