The rapid growth of China’s demand for energy has also surely had a tangible impact on oil prices. While there are apparently some short-term special factors at work in the most recent very high oil prices, the trend increase in the global demand for oil is now strongly influenced by China (and other rapidly growing countries in Asia), as shown in the chart below.
The figures which put this trend at its most stark are as follows. Over the two years to March this year, global demand for oil rose by about 4 million barrels a day. About 1.5 million barrels of this came from the OECD countries as a group -  BIS Review 34/2004  3  who use over 60 per cent of supply.