Connacher Oil & Gas Ltd CLLZF

Inventories probably rose 2.38 million barrel

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Oil Is Little Changed as OPEC Mulls Cut to Counter Slow Demand By Grant Smith and Alexander Kwiatkowski Feb. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil traded little changed amid speculation that slower global demand makes an OPEC production cut in March more likely. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, whose members supply more than 40 percent of the world's oil, has ruled out a production increase in March and will ``study an expected decline in demand,'' OPEC president Chakib Khelil said today. The International Energy Agency cut its forecast for 2008 global oil demand because of the slowing U.S. economy. ``I wouldn't be surprised at an OPEC cut in March,'' said Simon Wardell, energy research manager with Global Insight Inc. in London. ``The IEA will probably cut their demand forecast even further later in the year.'' Crude oil for March delivery advanced as much as 64 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $93.42 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract traded at $92.85, up 7 cents, at 12:33 p.m. London time. OPEC may cut production when it meets on March 5 because demand for the fuel is falling, Khelil said. Demand may drop by 1.8 million barrels a day in the second quarter because of the U.S. economic slowdown, refinery shutdowns for maintenance and lower fuel consumption as winter comes to an end, he said. ``One thing is for sure, we won't increase production,'' Khelil, who is also the Algerian oil minister, told reporters at a press conference in Algiers today. Brent Oil Brent crude for March settlement gained as much as 85 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $93.71 a barrel on London's ICE Futures Europe exchange. The contract traded at $93.14, up 28 cents, at 12:34 p.m. London time. Khelil's comments came after the IEA reduced its forecast for demand this year by 200,000 barrels a day to 87.6 million barrels a day. That lowers the annual growth rate to 1.9 percent, down from the 2.3 percent the IEA forecast last month. ``The underlying trend is increasingly weak'' in industrialized economies, Lawrence Eagles, head of the Oil Industry and Markets Division at the IEA, said in a telephone interview today. ``How quickly you bounce back from a slowdown is very important.'' U.S. crude-oil supplies probably gained for a fifth week as refineries cut operating rates in preparation for seasonal maintenance, a Bloomberg News survey indicated. Inventories probably rose 2.38 million barrels in the week ended Feb. 8 from 300 million barrels, according to the median of responses by 14 analysts before today's Energy Department report. All of the analysts expected supplies to rise. To contact the reporter on this story: Grant Smith in London at [e-mail] Alexander Kwiatkowski in London at [e-mail] Last Updated: February 13, 2008 07:35 EST https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601072&sid=at4URjQhT6fY&refer=energy