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By Noah Browning
LONDON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Global oil stocks which rose
during the height of the pandemic are being steadily reduced,
the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday, but a
second wave is slowing demand and will complicate efforts by
producers to balance the market.
OPEC+ producers - OPEC members and others including Russia -
plan to boost supply by 2 million barrels per day (bpd) from
January and the IEA predicts a ceasefire in Libya will raise
output there to 700,000 bpd in December from 300,000 bpd
currently.
"There is only limited headroom for the market to absorb
extra supply in the next few months," the IEA said in its
monthly report. "Those wishing to bring about a tighter oil
market are looking at a moving target."
OPEC+ producers are currently cutting output by 7.7 million
bpd.
The IEA said "the efforts of the producers have shown some
success", noting relatively stable oil prices and a strong draw
on storage, with implied global stocks falling by 2.3 million
bpd in the third quarter and by a predicted 4.1 million bpd in
the fourth.
However, the agency added that a demand rebound over the
summer was now slowing due to a second wave of coronavirus cases
and new movement restrictions.
"This surely raises doubts about the robustness of the
anticipated economic recovery and thus the prospects for oil
demand growth," the IEA said.
(Reporting by Noah Browning; editing by Jason Neely)