Global oil supply and demand will fall further than previously thought this year, the International Energy Agency said on Friday, as a lack of progress in ending the Iran war delays the return of normal Middle East flows into 2027 and sends fuel prices soaring.
"Inventories have so far played a crucial role in balancing the market," the IEA, which advises industrialized countries, said in a monthly report.
"With buffers shrinking and the global refining system stretched to the limit, the need for progress in resolving the conflict in the Middle East – and the Russia-Ukraine war, which is now in its fifth year – is greater than ever to avoid further market tightening."
(Reuters - Reporting by Alex Lawler, editing by Tomasz Janowski)