Increase in IEA demand forecast causes oil prices to rise
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia rejected calls for further OPEC+ production increases

Oil prices rose Thursday after major oil producer Saudi Arabia rejected calls for additional OPEC + supplies and the International Energy Agency said rising natural gas prices could boost demand for oil from power producers.
The market lost its gains after US crude inventories rose more than expected as refineries cut production for these facilities during a generally weaker period.
Brent crude oil futures rose at 12:57 p.m. EDT (1657 GMT) rose 62 cents, or 0.75%, to $ 83.80 a barrel after hitting a session high of $ 84.50 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures rose 55 cents to $ 80.99.
US crude oil inventories surprisingly rose by 6 million barrels, significantly more than the modest increase of 702,000 barrels expected by analysts. Production increased slightly, reaching 11.4 million barrels per day. [EIA / S]
"The continued rise in domestic oil production in the US is pulling the market down a little again. That should ease some of the pressure that has built up on the market," said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital LLC in New York.
Oil demand will rise by half a million barrels per day (bpd) as the energy sector and heavy industry switch from more expensive energy sources to others, according to the IEA, and it warns that the energy crisis is fueling inflation and slowing the global economy's recovery from the pandemic could.
In its monthly report, the IEA raised its forecast for global oil demand growth in 2022 by 210,000 bpd and now expects total oil demand to reach 99.6 million bpd in 2022, slightly above pre-pandemic levels.
Saudi Arabia rejected calls for further production increases from OPEC +, saying that the group's withdrawal of production cuts would protect the oil market from wild price fluctuations such as the natural gas and coal markets.
At their meeting earlier this month, OPEC + stuck to its previous agreement to increase production by 400,000 bpd per month.
OPEC +, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies under the leadership of Russia, has done a "remarkable" job as the so-called regulator of the oil market, said the Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman at a forum in Moscow.
Shale oil producers in the US have been hesitant to invest in increasing production after years of poor earnings. US production is nearly 13 million barrels per day, well below the late 2019 record. On Wednesday, the EIA stated that production will climb back to 11.7 million barrels per day by 2022.
The White House has held discussions with oil and gas producers about fuel costs as retail gasoline prices hit a seven-year high and heating bills are expected to rise for the winter.





