Global oil stocks could take 18 months to clear: BP

[LONDON] Global oil oversupply could take up to 18 months to clear even if supply swings into a deficit of 1 million barrels per day, BP chief economist Spencer Dale said on Wednesday.

He said the market was expected to achieve a balance between production and consumption in the second half of 2016.

But there has been a massive stock build of about 350 million barrels in developed economies and a similar number in emerging economies, Mr Dale said.

Operating at a deficit of 1 million bpd, that could take some 12 to 18 months to clear, he told reporters ahead of the release of BP's Statistical Review of World Energy.

Oil prices have fallen by more than half over the past two years due to an oversupply estimated at nearly 2 million barrels per day.

REUTERS