IEA: Those looking for a re-balancing of the oil market should be patient

Crude stocks in the world's richest nations rose in January for the first time since July by 48 million barrels to 3.03 billion barrels, more than 300 million barrels above the five-year average, the International Energy Agency said in its monthly report.

Key highlights

• The actual build in OECD stocks in January reminds us that it may be some time before global stocks start to fall
• Compliance by OPEC with its agreed output cut of 1.2 million barrels per day in the first half of this year was 91 percent in February
• If the group maintains its supply limit to June, the market could show an implied deficit of 500,000 bpd
• For those looking for a re-balancing of the oil market the message is that they should be patient, and hold their nerve
• At 32.3 million bpd, the call on OPEC crude during the first quarter of 2017 is higher than average output of 31.9 million bpd so far this year, which could lead to a draw in global inventories