US oil agency IEA warns battle for market share has just begun

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The battle for market share in the oil sector has just begun, according to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) monthly report.
 
The warning follows a report from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) on Tuesday, which stated that US supply was set to decline over the final two quarters of 2015 while Opec supply would pick up. 
 
The IEA said that recent signs of tightening in the US oil market “must be put into perspective”.
 
The group said “in the supposed standoff” between Opec and the US,  the US “appears to have blinked”. However, the IEA added that an end to US crude builds does not spell the end of oil inventory increases, and pointed to signs that product stocks are “picking up where crude has left off”.
 
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate was up slightly yesterday, around the $61 mark, while Brent crude rose to as much as $67.85. Meanwhile, US commercial crude oil inventories decreased by 2.2m barrels last week.