Oil edges higher but bleaker demand outlook weighs

LONDON, Sept 15 (Reuters): Oil prices edged slightly higher on Tuesday, but forecasts of a slower than expected recovery in global fuel demand due to the coronavirus pandemic weighed.

Brent crude LCOc1 was up 33 cents, or 0.8 per cent, at $39.94 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were up 31 cents, or 0.8 per cent, at $37.57 a barrel. Both contracts fell on Monday.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) on Tuesday trimmed its 2020 outlook by 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 91.7 million bpd, citing caution about the pace of economic recovery.

"We expect the recovery in oil demand to decelerate markedly in the second half of 2020, with most of the easy gains already achieved," the IEA said in its monthly report.

Its revision chimes with forecasts from major oil industry producers and traders, with OPEC downgrading its oil demand forecast and BP BP.L saying demand might have peaked in 2019.

World oil demand will tumble by 9.46 million bpd this year, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said in a monthly report on Monday, more than the 9.06 million bpd decline OPEC expected a month ago.