Drop for drop: increasingly efficient use of oil is starting to hit global demand, says Opec
Efficiency drive 'hitting global oil demand'
World oil demand was weaker than expected in the first half of 2006 as increasingly efficient use of oil limited consumption, oil producers' group Opec said in a report.
The Opec report said that while the global economy had grown strongly in 2006 “has not been matched with commensurate growth in oil demand”.
Opec said this was because "oil intensity", the amount of oil needed to produce a unit of energy, had declined significantly, especially in Europe and the US.
US gasoline demand “grew by only 0.7%, well below the annual average of 1.6% despite the stabilisation of gasoline prices. This has led to downward revisions of 200,000 barrels per day and 100,000 bpd to second- and third-quarter oil demand figures for North America.”
Meanwhile, “developing countries, which account for 92% of world oil demand growth, are expected to see incremental demand of 0.6 million bpd for the year,” the report said.
“The USA requires a quarter less oil to produce a unit of output compared to the early 1970s” and efficiency is even higher in major European countries, Opec said.
The report warned that sustained high prices may accelerate the fall in oil intensities, reflecting structural changes to developed economies, and the saturation of Western markets.