Oil edges higher but bleaker demand outlook weighs
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Oil prices edged slightly higher on Tuesday, but forecasts of a slower than expected recovery in global fuel demand due to the coronavirus pandemic weighed.
Brent crude was up 55 cents, or 1.4%, at $40.16 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures were up 61 cents, or 1.6%, at $37.87 a barrel. Both contracts fell on Monday.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) on Tuesday trimmed its 2020 outlook by 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 91.7 million bpd, citing caution about the pace of economic recovery.
Its revision chimes with forecasts from major oil industry producers and traders, with OPEC downgrading its oil demand forecast and BP saying demand might have peaked in 2019.
World oil demand will tumble by 9.46 million bpd this year, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said in a monthly report on Monday, more than the 9.06 million bpd decline OPEC expected a month ago.
