The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) has boosted its forecast for global oil demand growth for the first time since October, and predicts the market will tighten as gains in non-Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) production lag.

The federal agency hiked estimates for 2012 oil demand growth from last month’s report by 50,000 barrels per day (b/d) for 2012 to 1.32 million b/d. The EIA also revised its 2013 growth up by 20,000 b/d to 1.49 million b/d.

It was the first time the EIA had increased its global ...