Global oil demand returns to growth

The world will use more oil in the fourth quarter of 2009, marking the first time global fuel demand has risen year-on-year since the second quarter of 2008, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said. After successive year-on-year contractions in demand throughout 2009, the IEA’s monthly Oil Market Report said oil use was edging higher in the final three months of this year. The Paris-based adviser to 28 industrialized economies raised its 2009 global oil demand estimate from last month’s report by 210,000 barrels to 84.8 million barrels per day (bpd), following a strengthening of the world economy. Asia leads the rebound in growth, but consumers in developed countries, where economies remain fragile, are more sensitive to high prices, with signs of demand destruction when oil prices rise above US$80 per barrel, said David Fyfe, head of Oil Industry and Markets Division at the IEA. (November 12, 2009)