U.S. sanction waivers provided relief, but global economy still fragile: IEA's Birol

[November 20, 2018]    OSLO (Reuters) - Waivers on Iranian sanctions granted by the United States provided some relief to oil markets but the global economy is still very fragile, the head of the International Energy Agency told Reuters on Tuesday.

An Iranian man works on an oil production platform at the Soroush oil fields in the Persian Gulf, south of the capital Tehran, July 25, 2005. REUTERS/File Photo

"The U.S. decision on the Iranian sanction waivers took some of the players in the market by surprise and, as a result, what we see today are that markets are well supplied and the price went down by $20," Fatih Birol said on the margins of an energy conference.

"But the global economy is still going through a very difficult time and is very fragile and, as a result of the increase in production, we have very thin production capacity left in the world, in a world which is becoming more dangerous," he said, reiterating calls on key producers to exercise "common sense" at their December meeting.

(The story corrects last paragraph to show Birol is calling on key producers to exercise common sense, not increase output)

(Reporting by Gwladys Fouche, editing by Terje Solsvik)

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