Oil prices down in March on weak demand: IEA

PARIS, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Oil futures prices declined last month on weak outlook of the global economy, reported the International Energy Agency (IEA) on Wednesday.

Brent crude was traded at 106 U.S. dollars a barrel and West Texas Intermediate around 94 dollars a barrel, said the IEA in its latest Oil Market Report.

The downward pressure mainly came from weak crude demand, amid exceptionally deep seasonal maintenance at refineries, IEA said in the monthly publication which reviews the international oil market and projects oil supply and demand 12-18 months ahead.

The IEA forecast that global demand growth for 2013 will be little changed at 795,000 barrels a day, while oil demand will shrink by 480,000 barrels a day in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) area, partly offsetting outside growth, which is predicted to be 1.28 million barrels a day. Demand in OECD's European members alone will drop by 340,000 barrels a day, said the report.

IEA figures also showed that global supply fell by 120,000 barrels a day in March because of lower OPEC output. Non-OPEC supply is forecast to average 54 million barrels a day in the first quarter of 2013, up 650,000 barrels a day year on year but down 240,000 barrels a day from the previous quarter.

For the whole year, non-OPEC supply is expected to grow by 1.1 million barrels a day to reach 54.4 million barrels a day as South Sudan resumes exports and other disruptions abate, said the IEA.

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