Oil prices: IEA suggests global oil stockpile has hit record high as demand soars to five-year high
The world’s oil inventory has soared to new record levels, according to the latest report from leading energy forecaster International Energy Agency (IEA), which shows stockpiles reaching an unprecedented 3bn barrels.
The record high comes as plunging oil prices have sent demand soaring to a five-year high, the forecaster writes in its monthly report:
Stockpiles of oil at a record 3 billion barrels are providing world markets with a degree of comfort. This massive cushion has inflated even as the global oil market adjusts to $50/bbl oil.
The so-called “cushion” has been created by galloping production from OPEC and strong non-OPEC supply outpacing the unusually high demand for oil.
Inventories in industrial nations now stand at 2.98bn barrels, up by 13.8m barrels.
A global oversupply and China slowdown worries have sent oil prices falling by more than half over the year, with international benchmark Brent crude falling from over $100 in July last year to trade at around $44 a barrel today.
And it could be decades before anything changes, as the International Energy Agency predicted this week that oil prices would remain below $100 until 2040.
Brent crude fell almost one per cent to $43.67 per barrel in late afternoon trading.