BP field delay to up 2007 demand for OPEC oil -IEA

LONDON, Sep 19 (Reuters) Demand for OPEC oil will be 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) more in 2007 than previously forecast after BP delayed the start of a giant Gulf of Mexico oilfield, the head of the International Energy Agency said on Tuesday.

''I am concerned it changes the balance for 2007, that is clear,'' IEA Executive Director Claude Mandil said on the sidelines of an oil industry conference in London.

''The call on OPEC for 2007 will be 100,000 bpd higher.'' BP on Monday said that its 250,000 bpd Thunder Horse field would start in mid-1008, a year later than planned.

It was a blow to forecasts for total production from outside the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, as the project had been set to be one of the largest sources of non-OPEC new oil in 2007.

The delay may ease concern among some OPEC members about the potential volume of oversupply in the market, although data from the IEA, the energy adviser to 26 industrialised countries, still indicates demand for OPEC crude will fall next year.

OPEC agreed to keep output unchanged at a meeting in Vienna last week, but said it may meet again to review the situation before December if prices slide.

The extra 100,000 bpd would imply demand for OPEC oil in 2007 at 28.5 million bpd, down from 28.9 million bpd in 2006, according to the latest IEA data.

In its last monthly report and before the Thunder Horse delay, the IEA said it expected demand for OPEC oil to fall to 28.40 in 2007.

REUTERS SBA PM2014