Article content

LONDON — Oil demand will grow steadily in 2019 thanks to a solid global economy, but the world may face a large supply gap by late next year if OPEC cannot cover any supply shortfalls, the International Energy Agency said on Wednesday.

The report serves as a stark warning to the world’s largest oil exporters, who meet next week in Vienna to discuss supply policy.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or IEA issues stark warning to oil producers: A huge supply gap looms Back to video

The IEA said it expects global oil demand to grow by 1.4 million barrels per day in 2019, to top 100 million bpd by the second quarter of the year. The agency expects demand to grow at the same rate this year, unchanged from its last report in May.

“A solid economic background and an assumption of more stable prices are key factors. Risks include possibly higher prices and trade disruptions. Some governments are considering measures to ease price pressures on consumers,” the Paris-based agency said in its monthly report.

“There is the possibility of a downward revision to our economic assumptions in the next few months. The world economy is feeling some pain from higher oil prices.”

The oil price has risen by a third to around US$76 a barrel , close to its highest since late 2014, since OPEC and other producers including Russia began cutting production in January 2017 by 1.8 million bpd.