China, India oil demand frightening
Reuters
Posted online: Tuesday, April 05, 2005 at 1400 hours IST
Dallas, April 5: Increased demand for oil in China and India is so large they have created a worrisome climate among the world's energy producers, the chief of Saudi Arabia's services company in the United States said on Monday.
"This is the big gorilla. The demand by China and India together, if they continue to grow, it is quite substantial and it is frightening," said Mazen I. Snobar, President and CEO of Aramco Services Co, which delivers Saudi oil to the United States.
All oil producing nations will have to chip in to meet the needs if demand in those two countries continues to rise, said Snobar, adding, "Let's hope they don't sustain this growth."
Snobar, who is based in Houston, gave his assessment of the Asia oil demands during an energy forum attended by 200 leaders from the petroleum industry, government and academia at Southern Methodist University.
Of the United States, he said the country "cannot realistically expect to be energy independent. The forces that drive our industry are directly linked to the health of the economy here and worldwide, and we must have the stability to keep things in balance," he said.
US oil prices vaulted to a new record Monday over $58 a barrel, extending a sustained rally that some analysts say could eventually push it past the $100 mark if global demand outpaces new production.
It is extremely difficult for Saudi Aramco to build additional refineries in the United States to process crude oil, so the company is searching for opportunities to expand on its existing three refineries, he said.
It was recently announced the company would build an export refinery on the West Coast and invite US companies to partner with it, he noted.
H.E. Sheikh Ali Bin Jassim al-Thani, first secretary, director of the Congressional Affairs Section of the Embassy of the State of Qatar, told the forum that Qatar will become one of the most reliable and competitive sources of liquified natural gas in the world by 2010.
The share of Qatar LNG in the world will be around 30 percent and Qatar will be the No. 1 exporter of LNG, he said.
The world's demand for energy is doubling every 10 years and is expected to reach 230 million tons in 2010. By that time, Qatar will be exporting 77 million tons annually, with one-third going each to the United States, Europe and Asia.
"Natural gas prices in the US are projected to be $3.64 per million Btu in 2010. The United States market will import 52 million tons per year of energy and 23.4 million tons per year will come from Qatar," al-Thani said.
