- Oil market tighter than previously projected - Helps explain IEA release of strategic reserves - Market to stay tight, global stocks expected to fall through 2012

By Chris Shaw

While the recent strategic stock release by the International Energy Agency (IEA) was questioned in some quarters, Barclays Capital sees some additional justification for the move given the oil market in 2011 is far tighter than previously projected based on recent data.

A month ago, the IEA had estimated the global oil stock draw for 1Q11 was around 0.1 million barrels per day, while the average call on OPEC and stocks for the year as a whole was estimated to come in at around 30.1 million barrels per day.