World oil demand to fall 1.63% in 2009: OPEC
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World oil demand in 2009 was expected to fall 1.63 percent year-on-year to 84.31 million barrels per day (bpd), the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said in its latest monthly report released on Wednesday.
However, the world economic recovery would push world oil demand to increase 0.9 percent to 85.07 bpd next year, according to the report.
The report estimated that the world economy would grow 2.9 percent in 2010 after a contraction of 1.1 percent this year, with most of the growth coming from emerging Asian economies including China and India.
OPEC forecast that crude oil demand of next year would grow 3.7 percent in China and 3.34 percent in the Middle East, but would fall 1.25 percent in Western Europe.
OPEC also said world oil demand was unlikely to return to pre-crisis levels in the near future, warning that sustained increase in oil prices could erode crude demand amid a shaky global economic recovery.
