Reply #8: Record oil prices seen denting demand [View All]

[UpInArms]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071011/bs_nm/iea_oil_dc

LONDON (Reuters) - World oil demand will grow more slowly than expected in the fourth quarter as record-high oil prices prompt some consumers to seek alternatives, the International Energy Agency said on Thursday.

The IEA, adviser to industrialized countries, said in its monthly Oil Market Report demand will rise by 2.03 million barrels per day in the fourth quarter from a year ago, 320,000 bpd less than previously expected.

"There has been a bit of substitution going on, natural gas for oil, which is essentially a price effect," Lawrence Eagles, head of the IEA's Oil Industry and Markets Division, told Reuters.

"There have also been some small downward adjustments to economic growth, which have also played a role."

The cut in fourth-quarter demand follows a similar move by the IEA last month and points to a slightly lower need for oil from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in the final months of 2007.

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