World oil demand will grow by just 0.6 per cent a year until 2014, the International Energy Agency forecast today, as the recession forced the Paris-based group to slash its projections.

Daily oil demand will reach an average of 89 million barrels in five years' time, based on International Monetary Fund forecasts that economic growth will reach 5 per cent by 2012, the IEA said.

The oil price edged up to about $69 a barrel on supply worries after Nigerian militia said late last night that they had attacked a Royal Dutch Shell oil platform after shunning an amnesty deal from the country's president, Umaru Yar'Adua.

London Brent crude was up 12 cents at $69.04.

The IEA, which acts as an adviser to oil-consuming countries, made the forecast in its medium-term oil market outlook report.

It said that, if GDP turned out to be below the IMF's forecast, oil demand would fall by 0.2 per cent a year, to 84.9 million barrels a day on average by 2014.

Using two economic projections “acknowledges the widespread uncertainty over the recovery path likely to emerge from the worst global economic recession in half a century,” the IEA said.

It is the second time the IEA has been forced to downgrade its forecasts in recent years.

A year ago, it estimated that daily oil demand would rise to 94.14 million barrels in 2013. This was a downgrade to its previous year’s estimate and was prompted by rising oil prices.

Since then, the oil price has more than halved, from highs of $140 a barrel.

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