Despite global oil demand going down, prices may not follow the trend

Limited spare production capacity should help to support crude in coming months

The world's two big intergovernmental energy groups have updated their outlooks for the oil market to the end of next year – and they don't make comfortable reading. High prices, trade wars and weakening currencies are taking their toll on demand growth.

That doesn't necessarily mean that prices will fall. Concern that there isn't enough spare production capacity should continue to support oil for a while yet.

Both Opec and the International Energy Agency (IEA), which represents consumer countries, expect global consumption to increase by about 1.36 million barrels a day next year. That's a lot less than we have become used