The International Energy Agency (IEA) has revised its oil demand forecast for 2014.
The agency is now stating its forecast for demand growth is 1.1 million barrels a day, up 100,000 barrels on its previous estimate.
The Agency believes the European economy is showing signs of improvement (based on a Eurostat report in October) and oil-fired power production in other regions is higher than expected.
However, despite apparent upwards trends in consumerism and vehicle growth - particularly in China and the other BRICS and MINT countries - the IEA does not identify world goods and private transport as a major short-term driver of oil demand. In fact, the largest unknown for estimating future national and regional oil demand appears to be the transport sector.
The IEA's transport-sector policy is aimed at reducing dependence on oil, specifically setting a threshold of 450 ppm (parts per million) CO2 in the atmosphere and less than a 20 C rise in world average temperatures by 2045.
In order to achieve this goal, the agency claims that 70% of global car sales (equating to some 80-85 million per year) will need to be advanced vehicles by 2035 including hybrids, plug-in hybrids and all-electrics.