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Abu Dhabi: The expanding economies of China and India will continue to put pressure on tightening global oil supplies next year as they are projected to suck even more imported oil to feed their industries and meet transportation needs.
This year, the demand for oil in China is expected to increase by 5.9 per cent to 7.6 million barrels per day. In 2008, the demand will rise 5.7 per cent to eight million barrels, according to latest estimates of the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Oil demand in India is expected to rise 4.3 per cent this year to almost 2.8 million barrels, but growth should slow down to 2.3 per cent in 2008, given the resumption of naphtha's structural decline, said the IEA.
"The strength of gasoline sales [in India] is directly related to the country's rising vehicle fleet, which is expanding at some 15 per cent per year and is poised to exceed two million vehicles by the end of the decade, compared with 1.3 million in 2006, the Paris-based agency said.
China imports about 40 per cent of its crude oil requirements, while India imports around 76 per cent of its overall crude needs.
The IEA, which acts as an energy policy advisor to 26 member countries, last week revised downward its 2007 forecast for global oil product demand to 85.9 million barrels a day, largely as a result of high prices and poor weather in countries comprising the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
However, the IEA said global oil prices are unlikely to see a drastic fall in the near term as tight fundamentals and renewed geopolitical concerns outweigh worries of an economic downturn.
Crude oil futures in the US surged to a record high of $81.90 this week.
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