PARIS (AP) -- Global oil demand will be lower than expected this year and next as weak economic conditions in advanced economies offset growing demand in the developing world, the International Energy Agency said Wednesday.
The Paris-based energy watchdog said in its monthly report that global oil demand this year will average 86.8 million barrels per day, and 87.6 million barrels a day in 2009. Those forecasts were respectively 100,000 barrels and 140,000 barrels per day lower than the IEA's previous forecasts.
The IEA cut its forecast for demand in countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development -- mostly developed Western nations -- by 160,000 barrels a day to 48.4 million barrels a day this year, representing a drop of 1.6 percent from 2007.
"The data suggest that the demand impact of weaker economic conditions and high prices during the summer -- when oil prices reached an all-time peak -- was more marked than expected, notably in the United States," the IEA said in its report.
U.S. demand "may be poised for a more permanent, rather than transient, downward trend," the IEA said, arguing that sustained high prices and sluggish economic activity could reinforce ongoing structural adjustments and lead to lower U.S. per capita consumption in the medium and long term.
U.S. demand for oil products is forecast to drop 4 percent this year to 19.91 million barrels a day, the IEA said, compared to its previous forecast of a 2.3 percent year-on-year decline.
The IEA lifted its forecast for demand in non-OECD countries by 50,000 barrels to 38.3 million barrels a day this year and by 20,000 barrels to 39.8 million barrels day in 2009. The upward revisions "are mostly related to a reassessment of China's third quarter 2008 demand, gasoil use in India and fuel oil consumption in Iran," the IEA said.
The IEA also cut its forecast for production in nonmembers of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries by 180,000 barrels to 49.9 million barrels a day this year, and by 85,000 barrels to 50.7 million barrels a day next year.
Oil prices rose Wednesday in Asia after OPEC said it would cut more than 500,000 barrels a day of production that exceed its self-imposed output quotas.
Light, sweet crude for October delivery rose 49 cents to $103.75 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange midday in Singapore. The contract fell $3.08 overnight to settle at $103.26, the lowest close since April 1.
A statement by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries issued after oil ministers ended their meeting Wednesday in Vienna said the organization had agreed to produce 28.8 million barrels a day. OPEC President Chakib Khelil said that quota in effect meant that member countries had agreed to cut back 520,000 barrels a day of excess production.
The move was viewed as a compromise meant to avoid new turmoil in crude markets while seeking to prevent prices from falling too far.
