"LONDON -- The oil market has broken a two-year cycle of tightening supply conditions, the International Energy Agency said Thursday, as demand softens and Saudi Arabia increases output in response to tensions with Iran."

"The agency said in its monthly report that there had potentially been a rise in global oil stocks of 1 million barrels per day over the last quarter, and the impact on prices had not yet been fully realized.

'The cycle of repeatedly tightening fundamentals since 2009 has been broken for now,' it said.

The Paris-based organization, which advises 28 industrialized nations on energy policy, said the possibility that countries, led by the United States, could release stocks from strategic reserves, together with a pledge from Saudi Arabia to supply clients ahead of this week's negotiations with Iran over its disputed nuclear program, had tempered recent price gains."

Reuters had the story April 12, 2012 [2]