The agency kept its forecasts for Chinese and global demand relatively steady from the previous month, at 16 million bpd and 102 million bpd, respectively. Oil supply is still outstripping relatively slow demand, the IEA added, but the market is set to balance by around the middle of the year with China and developing countries driving demand. "Real-time indicators for Chinese mobility mostly stabilised after January’s remarkable bounce, led by air traffic with domestic flights now well above pre-pandemic levels," the IEA said. High inflation and investor concerns over high interest rates cloud the economic horizon and could pose a risk to fuel demand, the IEA warned, adding that concerns over the health of the U.S. banking sector also carried potential downside risks. Meanwhile commercial oil stocks in the developed countries of the OECD reached an 18-month high as demand ebbed and Europe ramped up storage ahead of bans on some Russian crude and refined products imports. Russian oil production stayed near pre-war levels in February despite sanctions on its seaborne exports.
Still, crude exports fell 500,000 bpd while a new
European Union ban on its seaborne products and a U.S.-led
international price cap - both starting on Feb. 5 - cut Russian
products exports by 650,000 bpd.
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World total oil demand Oil demand y-o-y changes by quarter Demand/supply balance ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
(Reporting by Noah Browning; editing by Jason Neely)
