Global Oil Comsumption

The industrialized countries are the largest consumers of oil but until 1998 had not been the most important growth markets for some years. 

The developed economies use oil much more intensively than the developing economies, and Canada and the United States stand almost alone in their consumption of oil per capita.  For instance, oil consumption in the United States and Canada equals almost 3 gallons per day per capita.  (The difference is these countries' transportation sectors, with their dependence on private vehicles to travel relatively long distances.)  Oil consumption in the rest of the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development) equals 1.4 gallons per day per capita.  The OECD is comprised of AUSTRALIA, AUSTRIA, BELGIUM, CANADA, CZECH REPUBLIC, DENMARK, FINLAND, FRANCE, GERMANY, GREECE, HUNGARY, ICELAND, IRELAND, ITALY, JAPAN, KOREA, LUXEMBOURG, MEXICO, NETHERLANDS, NEW ZEALAND, NORWAY, POLAND, PORTUGAL, SLOVAK REPUBLIC, SPAIN, SWEDEN, SWITZERLAND, TURKEY, UNITED KINGDOM, and UNITED STATES. Outside of the OECD, oil consumption equals 0.2 gallons per day per capita.

Regionally, the largest consuming area remains North America (dominated by the United States), followed by Asia (with Japan the largest consumer), Europe (where consumption is more evenly spread among the nations), and then the other regions

The United States and Canada use oil more for transportation than for heat and power, but the opposite pattern holds for most of the rest of the world. As a result, global demand for oil is highest in the Northern Hemisphere's cold months.  There is a swing of 3-4 million barrels per day (some 5 percent) between the 4th quarter of the year, when demand is highest, to the 3rd quarter, when it is lowest.  (The precise amount varies from year-to-year, depending on weather, economic activity and other factors.)  While the 4th quarter is not the coldest in any region, estimated demand calculations are swollen by the traditional stock building that occurs during the period.    

Demand for crude oil is derived from the demand for the finished and intermediate products that can be made from it.  In the short-term, however, demand for crude oil may be mismatched with the underlying demand for petroleum products.   This misalignment occurs routinely as a result of stock changes. This happens because the need to build stocks to meet seasonal demand, for instance, or the desire to reduce stocks of crude oil for economic reasons.  In the longer term, blending non-petroleum additives into petroleum products (such as ethanol or other oxygenating agents into gasoline) can also reduce crude oil demand relative to demand for finished products.

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