The International Energy Agency (IEA) cut its global oil demand growth forecast for this year, due to persistent high oil prices and lower growth projections for developed economies.

A new report by Bank of America Merrill Lynch forecasts that oil prices could drop below US$100 per barrel in the second half of 2011.

Saudi Arabia said that the oil market was oversupplied and revealed last month that the kingdom had slashed its March output by some 700,000 bpd, Saudi Arabia's oil minister Ali al-Naimi announced.

Iraq has signed a consultancy contract valued at around US$13.5mn with Canada's SNC Lavalin Group for a strategic Oil Minister Abdul-Kareem Luaibi, Iraq's oil minister said.

Emerson Process Management is consolidating and strengthening its presence in the region when it opened its new Middle East Flow Service Centre in Abu Dhabi which represents the first in-region VSL Calibration and Measurement Capability (CMC)-certified calibration facility.