Crude, slow down

July 10, 2015 07:38 AM

Slow down; take it easy! Crude oil prices slid after a Greek deal hope rally, only to be slowed by a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA). The report warned that demand for oil will slow in 2016, and Greece, China and the potential return of Iranian oil is not going to improve that outlook.

Yet, the IEA has been wrong underestimating demand before. They blamed its miss mainly on the weather and doubled down on their gloomy outlook by saying that global oil demand growth will slow next year to 1.2 million barrels a day -- reaching 95.2 million a day -- down from an expansion of 1.4 million a day this year, according to the report. They also are saying that U.S. production growth will slow to 300,000 barrels day next year, down from 900,000 a day in 2015.

The IEA said Friday global demand for oil would slow because of low prices and capital spending cutbacks. The IEA says that the bottom of the market may still be ahead because of the return of Iranian oil, and if Greece were to exit from the euro it could put further pressure on oil prices. They also said that if Iranian sanctions are lifted they could dump 40 million barrels of oil that is stored in tankers.

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About the Author

Phil Flynn is a senior energy analyst at The PRICE Futures Group and a Fox Business Network contributor. Phil is one of the world's leading market analysts, providing individual investors, professional traders, and institutions with up-to-the-minute investment and risk management insight into global petroleum, gasoline, and energy markets.