Global supply and demand for crude oil will be largely balanced next year, as growth in consumption helps erode a three-year-old overhang of unused fuel and should mostly offset a steep rise in output, the International Energy Agency said on Thursday. FILE PHOTO: An Iraqi worker opens a pipe at Sheaiba oil refinery in Basra, 550 km (340 miles) south of Baghdad, March 29, 2007. REUTERS/Atef Hassan In its monthly oil market report, the Paris-based IEA said it continues to see global demand for crude growing by 1.6 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2017, before moderating to 1.4 million bpd in 2018. “Looking into 2018, we see that three quarters out of four will be roughly balanced — again using an assumption of unchanged OPEC production, and based on normal weather conditions,” the agency said. Sponsored “Taking 2018 as a whole, oil demand and non-OPEC […]