On Tuesday, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said that in July, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s crude oil stockpiles hit a record high, signaling faltering demand due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The July figure was 3.225 million barrels, quite unexpected as the IEA thought that following July’s stock drop, it would instead start a period of gradual de-stocking.
Separately, the IEA adjusted down its forecast for global implied stock draws for the second half of 2020 by close to 500,000 bpd to 3.4 million bpd. It said that the global output is increasing and demand is lower than expected.
In certain key markets of the OECD, such as the US, Europe, and Japan, preliminary August reading showed that industry crude inventories edged down, with crude in floating storage slumped by 59.9 million barrels to 168.4 million barrels.
The IEA also added that as suggested by the early reports, volumes might rise in September.
