Iranian oil production falls to lowest levels since 1980s
Iranian oil production fell by 50,000 barrels per day (bpd) in
July to 2.23 million bpd, the country’s lowest since the 1980s, the
International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday.
The IEA added that Iran’s oil exports fell by 130,000 bpd in
July to 400,000 bpd.
According to the IEA, mounting signs of an economic slowdown and
a ramping up of the US-China trade war have caused global oil demand to grow at
its slowest pace since the financial crisis of 2008.
“The situation is becoming even more uncertain ... global oil
demand growth has been very sluggish in the first half of 2019,” the IEA said
in its monthly report.
The Paris-based agency said that compared with the same month in
2018, global demand fell by 160,000 bpd in May - the second year-on-year fall
of 2019.
From January to May, oil demand increased by 520,000 bpd,
marking the lowest rise for that period since 2008.
“The prospects for a political agreement between China and the
United States on trade have worsened. This could lead to reduced trade activity
and less oil demand growth,” the IEA said.
Lowering its global demand growth forecasts for 2019 and 2020 to
1.1 million and 1.3 million bpd, respectively, the IEA cited China as the only
major source of growth at 500,000 bpd for the first half of this year.
Demand growth in the US and India was just 100,000 bpd from
January to June, it said.
“The outlook is fragile with a greater likelihood of a downward
revision than an upward one,” the report said.
Supply curbs by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries and its allies, meanwhile, had tightened the oil market, helped by
slower non-OPEC production.
But the IEA said that balance would be temporary as it forecast
robust non-OPEC production growth in 2020 at 2.2 million bpd, predicting the
global oil market would be “well supplied”