So during the decade to 2011, worldwide oil demand rose 16pc.

The degree to which oil demand responds in the short term to price changes is the subject of some debate.

Most of its oil demands are met through imports from Russia.

Last year, oil demand in China grew by 16 percent.

The developing countries used to account for 26% of oil demand in the early 1970s.

Together, the two countries are expected to account for much of the increase in global oil demand over the next decade.

Even so self-sufficiency would not be possible without a fall in oil demand by the end of the century.

Over the same period oil demand fell by 25% and its share of consumption from 51% to 44%.

If mean estimates are accurate, the 1002 area would produce at most only about 4 percent of the country's oil demand in the year 2005.

However rising global oil demand helped register growth of 91% in the 1990s.