Dead sunflowers stand in a field near dormant oil drilling rigs which have been stacked in Dickinson, North Dakota, on Jan 21, 2016. The IEA left its forecast for global oil demand growth unchanged for 2017 at 1.5 million bpd, marking a rise of 1.6%, and for 2018, at 1.3 million bpd, equal to an increase of 1.3%. Production from outside the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is expected to have risen by 600,000 bpd this year, before increasing by 1.6 million bpd next year. "Going into the first quarter of 2018, our balances imply that global oil stocks will increase by 300,000 bpd, assuming stable Opec crude production of 32.5 million bpd," the IEA said. Crude oil held in floating storage declined during October-November but not by as much as in 3Q17," the agency said.

Source: Bangkok Post December 14, 2017 09:22 UTC