Oil glut meets rising demand in quietest market since 2013

New York

THE sleepiest oil market since 2013 will probably limp through the second half of the year as well.

Crude traded in a US$5 range in June, the narrowest in 19 months. Volume was the lowest since December and open interest - the number of futures contracts outstanding - was the least since January. New York-traded futures, which have swirled around US$60 a barrel for the past two months, will average about US$59 in the third quarter and US$63 in the fourth, going by the forecasts of 22 analysts compiled by Bloomberg.

Neither the potential return of Iranian crude to the market nor the long-anticipated decline in US production is stirring a reaction. While petrol demand has increased faster than projected, record production from Opec's (Organization of t…