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Brent Creeps Closer to All-Time High
Brent crude prices have surpassed the mark of $76 a barrel, moving ever closer to a historic high of August 2006. The International Energy Agency said in a report on Monday that world demand would grow by 2.2 percent a year up to 2012, which sees increasing market tightness beyond 2010.
Brent crude contracts for August delivery rose further above $76 a barrel in London, getting ever closer to their all time record of $78.65 set last August.
Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency released an oil market report on Monday saying world oil demand would rise faster than expected to 2012 while slow production would lead to a supply shortage. The adviser to 26 industrialized countries said demand would grow by some 2.2 percent a year up to 2012, up 0.2 percent compared to the previous forecast.
The agency expects global demand to reach 95.8 million barrels per day from 86.1 million this year. The IAE forecast assumes average global GDP to grow 4.5 percent annually.
“Despite four years of high oil prices, this report sees increasing market tightness beyond 2010,” the IEA said. “It is possible that the supply crunch could be deferred - but not by much.”
The IEA said global refining capacity would be declining as rising costs and a shortage of engineers will be delaying construction.
The agency expects less supply to come from outside the OPEC. Russia and Brazil are believed to become oil production leaders. An average oil production in Russia is to reach 10.6 million barrels a day in 2010, up from 9.9 million barrels at present.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of July 10, 2007
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