London — Oil supply will soon overtake demand as some producers are set to pump at or above all-time highs, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday, while demand holds up despite the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
“This time around, the surge is having a more muted impact on oil use,” the Paris-based IEA said in its monthly oil report.
“The steady rise in supply could see a significant surplus materialise in 1Q22 and going forward,” it said, with the United States, Canada and Brazil set to pump at all-time highs for the year while Saudi Arabia and Russia could also break their output records.
Eased lockdown measures mean mobility remains robust, the IEA added, leading the energy watchdog to increase its oil demand estimate for last year and 2022 by 200,000 barrels per day (bpd).
But the IEA warned that with commercial oil and fuel stocks in OECD countries at their lowest levels in seven years, any dents in supply could render the oil market in 2022 volatile.
- Reuters (Reporting by Noah Browning; editing by Jason Neely)
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