Current oil prices above $70/b are already starting to drag on global oil demand and threaten to soften demand growth forecasts this year, the International Energy Agency's executive director Fatih Birol said Friday. The recent ramp-up in oil prices is weighing on demand, especially as it is occurring in countries such as China, US and India, which are the world's biggest oil consumers, Birol said. "The higher oil price environment may, if they stay around this level, also have an impact...put some downward pressure under demand growth," Birol told S&P Global Platts in an interview. "So it will not be a surprise if we ... (full story)