LONDON: Oil prices fell on Wednesday as a market surplus forecast by the International Energy Agency (IEA) outweighed concern over disruptions to Libya’s crude output.
Brent crude was down 48 cents, or 0.7 per cent, at $64.11 a barrel by 1311 GMT. West Texas Intermediate fell 57 cents, or 1pc, to $57.81.
The head of the IEA, Fatih Birol, said he expects the market to be in surplus by 1 million barrels per day (bpd) in the first half of this year.
“I see an abundance of energy supply in terms of oil and gas,” Birol told the Reuters Global Markets Forum on Tuesday while attending the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos.
“It’s the reason that recent incidents we have seen – with the Iranian general killed, Libya unrest — didn’t boost international oil prices,” Birol added, referring to the US killing of an Iranian commander and retaliation by Tehran that boosted prices briefly this month.
Published in Dawn, January 23rd, 2020
Dear visitor, the comments section is undergoing an overhaul and will return soon.