(RTTNews) - The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries boosted its outlook for global oil demand growth on Wednesday, but cautioned that demand will be highly dependent on the pace of the US economic recovery.
In its monthly oil market report, the cartel also expressed concerns about the level of public debt in almost all OECD regions, record-high unemployment levels across the globe and the ability of China to avoid an overheating.
Still, OPEC revised its previous assessment of oil demand by an additional 100,000 barrels per day. Overall, world oil demand is expected to grow by 900,000 barrels per day in 2010, following a contraction of 1.4 million barrels in the previous year.
The forecast for the world economy remains unchanged at 3.4% growth for 2010 following a contraction of 0.9% in 2009.
"US oil demand will play a major role in total world oil demand growth this year," the report stated. "Should the stimulus plans fade prior to a complete economic recovery, then the country's energy demand could be negatively affected by slow industrial production and high unemployment."
OPEC noted this might slightly affect oil demand in other regions as well, shaving
the world oil demand in total.
The Vienna-based organization estimated that US commercial oil inventories remained broadly unchanged in February.
Yesterday, the American Petroleum Institute reported an unexpected rise in crude-oil stockpiles for the week ended March 5. The industry group said oil stockpiles rose 6.5 million barrels.
"Even taking into account the uncertainty regarding demand for OPEC crude, current OPEC production is likely to exceed market needs," the report said.
Crude prices have been hovering above $80 a barrel in recent weeks, despite the strengthening of the dollar against the euro. Earlier this week, an Iranian oil official reportedly said the fair price should be around $100 a barrel.
