Global oil demand in non-OPEC countries has fallen year-on year for the first time since 2012.

It has been reduced from a near five-year high in the third quarter of last year, at 2.1 million barrels per day (mb/d), to a one-year low in the fourth quarter of 1mb/d.

That’s due to mild temperatures in the early part of the winter in Japan, Europe and the United States and a weak economy in China, Brazil and Russia, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Its Oil Market Report (OMR) stated: “Global oil supplies expanded by 2.6mb/d last year, following hefty gains of 2.4mb/d in 2014. By last December however, growth had eased to 0.6mb/d, with lower non-OPEC production that pegged below year-earlier levels for the first time since September 2012.”

OPEC crude output fell by 90,000 barrels per day to 32.28mb/d, it added.

Iran insists it will boost its output by 500 thousand b/d and the IEA predicts around 300 thousand b/d of additional crude could be flowing to world markets by the end of the current quarter.

It added: “Global inventories rose by a notional one billion barrels in 2014/15, with the fundamentals suggesting a further build of 285mb over the course of this year.

“Despite significant capacity expansions in 2016, this stock build will put storage infrastructure under pressure and could see floating storage become profitable.”