The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) on Wednesday raised its forecast for 2005 global oil demand following upward revisions to world economic growth. Opec said it saw world oil demand this year of 83.78 million barrels per day (mbpd) - a rise of 2.11 percent compared to the previous year. That is equivalent to an additional 1.73 mbpd and is modestly larger than Opec's previous estimates of a 2.0 percent increase from 2004.

World oil demand for 2005 was "revised upwards in line with projections for stronger world gross domestic product growth", Opec explained in its monthly oil market report.

The 11-nation oil cartel said that demand for 2004 was estimated to have grown by 3.21 percent - or 2.55 mbpd - from 2003.

Opec said the world economy was expected to grow by 4.21 percent this year, slightly up from previous estimates of 4.12 percent.

"Oil consumption is expected to grow in all major regions, with the sole exception of OECD Pacific (Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand) where demand will contract by around 1.0 percent," the report said.

"Within the developing economies, the Middle Eastern countries, with their solid economic growth - estimated at 6.63 percent for the present year - will consume considerably high amounts of oil," it said.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2005