IEA Sees '09 Oil Demand Slump Moderating

PARIS -- The International Energy Agency on Thursday forecast that the slump in global oil demand in 2009 would be slightly less severe than previously expected, the organization's first upward revision to its estimates in 10 months as economic indicators suggest the recession may be past its peak.

The Paris-based agency said in its closely watched monthly survey that global oil demand would fall by 2.9% to 83.3 million barrels a day this year, or 2.5 million barrels a day less than in 2008.

In May, the IEA was expecting a 3% annual fall in demand, the sharpest rate of decline since 1981.

"These revisions do not necessarily imply the beginnings of a global economic recovery and may only signal the bottoming out of the recession," the IEA said in its report. ...