World oil demand will peak at 104.4 million barrels per day (bpd) in the mid-2030s, up from just below the current 100 million bpd.
This will be as a result of new technologies gradually eat into oil use, China’s Unipec said on Monday at the annual Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference (APPEC) in Singapore.
Unipec President Chen Bo said improved energy efficiency and technological changes are keys to the trend.
He also said that the rise of renewables also meant global oil demand growth would slow in coming years and peak at 104.4 million bpd in 2035 my noting that in spite of trade disputes between China and the U.S., crude supply was an important new source for Chinese refiners.
He added that “it allows diversification away from Middle East and African crudes, on which China has relied heavily” he said.
Trade war tensions between the United States and China will last just “for the time being, and in the future we’ll be active in this area,” he said.
Chen Bo also said China would reduce Iranian oil imports because of looming U.S. sanctions against the Middle East country due to start in November.
There had not yet been a decision on how big these cuts would be.
