IEA: Oil demand to rise in 2015

PARIS, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- Global demand for oil should accelerate by 1.3 million barrels per day in 2015, a 30 percent increase, because of economic recovery, the IEA said from Paris.

The International Energy Agency said Tuesday it lowered its growth forecast for global oil demand to 1 million barrels per day in part due to weaker economic outlook from the International Monetary Fund.

For the United States, one of the world's leading economies, the IMF said in a July report parts of the economy were still struggling to gain traction, though overall growth for 2015 should "accelerate to the fastest annual pace since 2005" barring any unforeseen shocks.

Globally, IEA said in its oil market report for August that "as the economy improves in 2015, [oil] demand is set to accelerate by 1.3 million bpd."

In July, the Paris-based group said oil supplies increased by 840,000 bpd on the back of a 1.2 million bpd increase from producers outside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. That helped offset declines among most OPEC members, though IEA said it was an increase to 10 million bpd from Saudi Arabia and a "tentative recovery" from Libya.