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IEA sees China driving about half of world oil demand growth in 2023
CGTN
An LNG carrier unloads at Yangkou Port in east China's Jiangsu Province, May 28, 2021. /CFP
An LNG carrier unloads at Yangkou Port in east China's Jiangsu Province, May 28, 2021. /CFP

An LNG carrier unloads at Yangkou Port in east China's Jiangsu Province, May 28, 2021. /CFP

Oil producers may have to reconsider their output policies following a demand recovery in China, the world's second-largest oil consumer, the International Energy Agency's Executive Director Fatih Birol said on Sunday.

"We expect about half of the growth in global oil demand this year will come from China," Birol told Reuters on the sidelines of the India Energy Week conference.

He added that China's jet fuel demand is exploding, putting upward pressure on demand.

China is the world's largest crude importer and number two buyer of liquefied natural gas.

"If demand goes up very strongly, if the Chinese economy rebounds, then there will be a need, in my view, for the OPEC+ countries to look at their [output] policies," Birol said.

Producer group OPEC+ angered the United States and other Western nations in October when it decided to cut output by two million barrels a day from November through 2023, instead of pumping more to cut fuel prices and help the global economy as the U.S. advised.

Read more: Saudi energy minister warns sanctions could result in energy shortages

OPEC+ rolled over the group's current output policy at a meeting on Wednesday, leaving production cuts agreed last year in place.

(With input from Reuters)

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