Rise in global oil demand forecast

Abu Dhabi: The Ministry of Energy said that it expects global demand for oil to increase by 1.4 million barrels per day to 87.74 million bpd.

The ministry, in a report on the oil market for February 2011 prepared by its oil economics department, said that demand increased by 1.8 million bpd in 2010 to 86.34 million bpd.

The report added that the average price for the Opec basket reached $104.01 a barrel last month due to fears regarding shortages of Libyan supplies. However, the Opec basket maintained its momentum in January as prices reached a range of $90 to $95, compared to $85 to $90 in December 2010. This led to average oil prices in January touching $92.83 per barrel, an increase of 4.8 per cent over December.