A surge in oil consumption coupled with rising oil prices has caused the Asia Pacific region's oil import bill to rise by 133% since 2000 to reach US$287 billion in 2005, according to leading oil industry analyst John Westwood.
Addressing diplomats and leading members of Singapore’s business community at a British Chamber of Commerce Business Breakfast today, held on the occasion of the Offshore South East Asia (OSEA 2006) conference, Mr Westwood of international energy analysts Douglas-Westwood outlined the scale of the oil supply problem that is building, driven by the relentless growth of the developing economies in the region.
“Over the years since 2000, Asia Pacific’s oil reserves have fallen by 6% whilst its production has virtually remained unchanged. However, a 15% growth in consumption has increased oil imports by 24%. This extra oil demand has been a major factor in pushing up global oil prices and the cumulate effect has been an oil import bill which we estimate has risen from US$123 billion in 2000 to US$297 billion in 2005”, said Westwood.
He added: “The ‘oil supply gap’ – the difference between oil production and demand – has near tripled, from 12.9 million barrels per day in 2000 to 15.9 million barrels per day in 2005. And still oil demand grows.”