LONDON (Reuters) - Crude oil storage in developed countries reached an all-time high in July, the International Energy Agency said on Tuesday, in a sign that demand had faltered due to the economic damage wrought by the coronavirus.
"Stocks drew in June, bringing to an end three months of significant month-on-month increases and, it was thought, opening a period of gradual de-stocking," the Paris-based agency said in its monthly report on Tuesday.
"Instead, the July build returned OECD industry stocks to record levels of 3.225 billion barrels."
The agency revised down its projection for global implied stock draws for the second half of 2020 by nearly a million barrels per day (bpd) to 3.4 million bpd, citing increasing global output and lower than expected demand.
Preliminary August data indicated that industry crude stocks fell in certain key markets, the United States, Europe and Japan and that crude in floating storage fell sharply by 59.9 million barrels to 168.4 million barrels.
However, it warned: "Early reports suggest volumes might rise in September."