Weakest Oil Demand Growth Since ’12 Allays Supply Risk, IEA Says

Global oil demand growth eased to its weakest since 2012 last quarter, calming world markets amid threats to supplies in the Middle East and North Africa, according to the International Energy Agency.

The IEA cut estimates for oil demand growth this year and next after the annual expansion in fuel consumption slowed to 700,000 barrels a day in the second quarter, the lowest level since early 2012. The resulting supply surplus has meant that Libya, seeking to restore crude exports choked off by political feuding, is struggling to find buyers, the agency said in its monthly market report. Logistical constraints in southern Iraq may prove a bigger hurdle to bolstering output than violence in the north, it said.