LONDON - The International Energy Agency cut forecasts for global oil demand amid new lockdown measures and cautioned that the vaccine breakthrough won't quickly revive markets.
The Opec+ alliance led by Saudi Arabia and Russia had initially aimed to restore some of the supply they're keeping offline at the start of next year, but is increasingly focused on delaying the move. Data now available for the third quarter suggest that inventories fell by barely a third of the expected amount, declining by 800,000 barrels a day, the IEA said.
Besides the challenge of deteriorating demand, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries also has to reckon with a surprising rebound in supply. It's now pumping more than 1 million barrels a day, and could average just below this level in November, the agency predicted.