Kazakhstan, Astana, June 19 / Trend D. Mukhtarov /
China will remain the main leader in the global demand for energy resources in the coming years, deputy executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) Richard Jones said today.
"We expect the rate of increasing demand for hydrocarbons to slow in the coming years," Jones said at the third International Oil and Gas Conference 'The Caspian Sea shelf development' in Atyrau today. "However, China will still be the main leader in the global demand for energy resources. We expect its demand for energy resources will reach 12 million barrels per day in the coming years."
There are also key regions of growth such as Africa, where the demand for energy increases four per cent per year.
"The total ratio of the balance of supply and demand has not been changed today, but there are a number of points," he said. "The supply structure is being changed now. We are currently witnessing another market. The new volumes of different quality from new sources of supply are appearing. This changes the structure of the market and requires a change in the approach of providers, distributors and consumers."
He added that a hydrocarbon revolution is expected to occur in the U.S. Domestic production is being developed in this country more rapidly than expected, along with a decrease in oil production in the OPEC countries. This can seriously affect the global oil market taking into account the changes in North Africa.
"The total oil demand growth will be moderate and we expect increased demand reaching about 6.9 million tons per day over the next five years," Jones said.