Oct. 13 (xinhua) -- The expected pace of global oil consumption growth for 2011 is slightly lower, while projected supply is higher, resulting in some easing of oil market tightness, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday.

In is monthly report, the agency also predicted that oil consumption growth from countries outside of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) will outpace the growth in supply from non-OPEC producers, implying a need for OPEC producers to increase their output to balance the market in 2011 and 2012.

EIA expects that world crude oil and liquid fuels consumption will continue growing from its record-high level of 87.1 million barrels per day in 2010 and reach 88.4 million barrels per day in 2011 and 89.8 million barrels per day in 2012.

Consumption in OECD countries is projected to decline in both 2011 and 2012. OPEC's output in 2011 is expected to drop by just 30,000 barrels a day from a year earlier, compared with the agency 's month-ago forecast for a 360,000 barrels a day drop, due to the surge in Saudi output to cover supplies lost in the war in Libya.