Asia-Pacific to fuel oil industry growth
Asia-Pacific to fuel oil industry growth
SINGAPORE (AFP): Asia-Pacific nations led by China and India will fuel growth in the world oil industry in the 21st century and greatly influence prices with their huge import needs, officials and experts said here yesterday.
Former Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) secretary general Subroto of Indonesia, chairing an annual petroleum conference here, said the Asia-Pacific oil market would be the biggest in the world by 2000 "if not earlier."
Subroto said rapid population and economic growth in Asia would be the key driving forces of the world oil industry in the next century.
He cited estimates that Asia would need about 23.5 million barrels of day by 2000, but would only be producing about seven million barrels, resulting in a deficit of 16.5 million barrels.
"The bulk of the imports will have to come from the Middle East," he said. "This situation will have a tremendous effect on the oil supply and demand worldwide, and the price levels," he added.
Saudi Arabia's oil minister Petroleum Minister Ali Al-Naimi assured Asian nations that his country, which boasts the world's largest oil reserves, would have enough supplies to meet Asian requirements over the long term.
Al-Naimi said Saudi Arabia now supplies about a quarter of Asia's oil needs, or some four million barrels a day.
"However, we expect that this volume and percentage will grow in the next few years. Asia's location makes it the best market for Saudi oil, and Saudi Arabia the best source of oil for Asia," he said.
The Saudi minister noted that in 1985, Asia was the third largest energy-consuming region in the world, trailing Europe by six million barrels of oil equivalent per day, and North America by 13 million barrels.
By 1995, Asia's consumption was nine million barrels more than Europe's and just four million barrels short of North America's.
In per-capita terms, however, Asians now consume less that one-14th the energy needs of North Americans and one-sixth of Europeans' but the gap will narrow as Asian economies grow further, the minister said.
"The reason for that is simple. Five Asian countries -- China, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Pakistan -- together hold about half of the world's population," Al-Naimi said.
He called for more cross-investment and closer integration of the petroleum industries in Saudi Arabia and Asia.
Major Saudi investments have been made in the Ssangyong Oil Refining Co. in South Korea and Petron Corp. in the Philippines, and negotiations are going on with China and India to develop similar downstream projects, he said.
International and regional integration in the petroleum industry would benefit world economic growth, the minister said. Al-Naimi expressed concern over high oil taxes in some Asian countries, as well as environmental restrictions directed at oil usage, blamed for contributing to global warming.
"Some of the environmental policies being suggested today should be carefully reviewed for their impact on economic growth and the political, social and economic health of the world, especially the developing countries, " the Saudi minister said.
Saudi Arabia has about one-fourth of the world's proven oil reserves, Al-Naili said, adding that there was a "strong probability" that "recoverable reserves" will grow further.
According to Petroleum Argus, an industry journal, Saudi Arabia was believed to have proven reserves of about 260 billion barrels near the end of 1995.