Oil prices rebound, but IEA view sparks new supply worries

New York : Oil prices rebounded from earlier losses after Brent hit a two-month low, as investors attempted to capitalize on recent declines in benchmark contracts that came from renewed worries about oversupply.

The market earlier dropped after the Paris-based International Energy Agency said global oil supply would outstrip demand this year, prompting fears that efforts to reduce inventories would fall short of expectations.

Brent crude futures LCOc1 were down two cents to $62.57 a barrel by 12:25 p.m. EST (1725 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures CLc1 dropped 15 cents to $59.14 a barrel.

Oil prices fell for six straight sessions last week, wiping away the year’s gains amid a volatile stock market.

The IEA revised its global demand forecast upward by 7.7 percent, but rising production, particularly from the United States - which overtook Saudi Arabia last week to become the second-largest global producer - may outweigh demand gains.

“U.S. producers are enjoying a second wave of growth so extraordinary that in 2018 their increase in liquids production could equal global demand growth,” the IEA
said.

U.S. oil production is expected to surpass 11 million barrels per day in late 2018, a year earlier than projected last month, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said last week.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said on Monday it expected world oil demand to climb by 1.59 million bpd this year, an increase of 60,000 bpd from the previous forecast, to 98.6 million bpd.

The private American Petroleum Institute is due to publish crude inventory estimates on Tuesday, while the U.S. government’s Energy Information Administration releases weekly inventory data on Wednesday.