VIENNA, 16 February 2006 — World demand for crude oil is expected to rise by 1.89 percent in 2006 to 84.64 million barrels per day, OPEC said yesterday in its monthly report. The figure is 0.05 percent lower than the estimated demand of 84.83 million bpd published in the January report of the Vienna-based Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, but higher than the average demand of 83.07 million bpd in 2005. China’s demand is forecast to increase by 6.0 percent to 6.94 million bpd.
US demand will grow by 1.38 percent to 25.81 million bpd, while that of Western Europe by a slight 0.43 percent to 15.64 million bpd, OPEC said.
Yesterday New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March, shed 97 cents to $58.60 per barrel in pit trading. In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for April delivery tumbled 84 cents to $58.68 per barrel in electronic deals.