The prices of reference brands of oil significantly accelerated the decline in trading on Tuesday after the International Energy Agency (IEA) lowered forecasts of world oil demand for 2017 and 2018.
January futures for Brent crude at the London Stock Exchange ICE Futures by 12:39 Moscow time fell by $ 1.21 (1.58 percent) to $ 61.65 per barrel. The price of WTI futures for December on electronic trading in the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) decreased by $ 1.11 (1.56 percent) to $ 55.65 a barrel by this time.
On Tuesday, the IEA lowered forecasts for the growth in demand for oil for 2017-2018 by 100 thousand b / d to 1.5 million b / d and 1.3 million b / d, respectively. The downward revision of the forecast is explained with higher oil prices and relatively mild winter temperatures.
IEA experts also noted they do not expect the balance of world oil demand and supply until the second half of 2018.