(RTTNews) - The price of crude oil was moving lower Thursday morning after the IEA today said global economic slowdown could hurt oil prices.
The International Energy Agency, in its monthly Oil Market Report released earlier today, nudged up its 2013 oil demand growth forecast by 1.0 million barrels per day (mbd) to 90.90 mbd as global oil supply capacity seen growing slightly ahead of expected moderate demand growth.
Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures for August delivery, were down $1.20 to $84.61 a barrel. Yesterday, oil ended significantly higher after an official report showed oil stockpiles in the U.S. declined more than expected. Nonetheless, oil prices pared some of the gains following the release of the Federal Reserve Policy meeting minutes that provided no hint of any further quantitative easing.
Wednesday during trading hours, the EIA said that U.S. crude oil inventories shed 4.70 million barrels, while gasoline stocks gained 2.80 million barrels in the weekended July 06. Analysts were expecting crude oil inventories to dip by 1.5 million barrels, while gasoline stocks are seen adding 600,000 barrels last week.
Yesterday, the OPEC maintained its 2012 world oil demand at 0.90 mbd, while forecasting 2013 world oil demand growth at 0.80 mbd, representing a slowdown in growth from the current year. Commenting on the U.S. stock piles, the cartel said US commercial oil stocks rose further in June, increasing by 10.8 mb, the highest level since August 2011. Inventories were 17.0 mb above a year ago and 31.5 mb above the five-year average, it added.
This morning, the U.S. dollar advanced to a fresh 2-year high versus the euro and trading near a one- month high against sterling. The buck was ticking lower versus the yen and edging up against the Swiss franc.
In economic news, euro zone industrial sector output bounced back unexpectedly in May. Industrial production rose 0.6 percent month-on-month in May, following a 1.1 percent decrease in April. The outcome was better than economists' expectations for a flat reading.
Elsewhere, wholesale price inflation in Germany eased to 1.1 percent in June from 1.7 percent in May, the Federal Statistical Office said. During the month, wholesale prices of metal and metal ores as well as semi-finished products fell 5.1 percent annually.
Traders will look to the weekly jobless claims data from the U.S. Labor Department, due out at 8.30 a.m ET. Economists expect claims to edge up to 375,000 from 374,000 in the previous week.
