HOUSTON, June 11 (Xinhua) -- The global supply of liquid fuels will increase in 2020 with the United States as a major supplier, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a report published Tuesday.
In its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), EIA forecast global liquid fuels supply will rise by 2.0 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2020, with 1.4 million of that growth coming from the United States. Global oil demand rises by 1.4 million b/d in 2020 in the forecast, up from expected growth of 1.2 million b/d in 2019.
As for the United States, EIA forecast annual U.S. crude oil production will increase by 1.4 million b/d in 2019 and by 0.9 million b/d in 2020, with 2020 production averaging 13.3 million b/d.
EIA forecast global oil inventories will decline by 0.3 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2019 and then increase by 0.3 million b/d in 2020.
In terms of oil prices, EIA said Brent crude oil spot prices averaged 71 U.S. dollars per barrel in May, largely unchanged from April 2019 and almost 6 dollars per barrel lower than the price in May of last year. However, Brent prices fell sharply in recent weeks, reaching 62 dollars per barrel on June 5.
EIA forecast Brent spot prices will average 67 dollars per barrel in 2019, 3 dollars per barrel lower than the forecast in last month's STEO, and remain at 67 dollars per barrel in 2020. EIA's lower 2019 Brent price path reflects rising uncertainty about global oil demand growth.
