Oil Slightly down amid Demand Concerns, IMF Proposal

NEW YORK, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Oil price edged down on Wednesday as the International Energy Agency (IEA) saw weak energy demand in 2012, overshadowing the International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s proposal to raise new fund and upbeat U.S. industrial output.

IEA cut its 2012 demand growth forecast by 220,000 barrels per day (bpd) from its previous monthly report, to 1.1 million bpd, saying that oil demand is falling for the first time since the global economic crisis of 2008-2009, as demand in the last quarter of 2011 fell 300,000 bpd to 89.5 million bpd.

The report raised concerns about the energy demand and pressured on the oil price on Wednesday. However, IMF on Wednesday proposed to boost its lending capacity by as much as 500 billion dollars, in an effort to battle against the European debt crisis. The Fund's effort helped to stimulate optimism and provide support to the oil price.

Also, the Federal Reserve reported that U.S. industrial production rose 0.4 percent in December, after slipping in the previous month.

Light, sweet crude for February delivery lost 12 cents, or 0.1 percent to settle at 100.59 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In London, Brent crude for March delivery fell 87 cents and settled at 110.66 dollars a barrel.