2012 demand for oil in China is forecast to rise by around six percent.
Though it is unlikely that growth rates will return to the rocketing pace of 2010, China's 6% rise in 2012 will still be enough to underpin global oil prices. The second largest fuel user in the world behind the U.S., needs extra fuel to sustain an economy which is expected to grow at 9% or faster next year.
Analysts predict around 600,000 barrels-per-day of incremental oil use in 2012, which is expected to keep global crude prices up at around $94 per barrel.
In contrast, the U.S. oil demand will grow only 80,000 bpd, according to the government's Energy Information Agency. However, analysts at Bernstein expect that this number should be slightly higher than the consensus estimates.
China is already busy stockpiling oil and building new storage facilities as it moves into the second phase of building its strategic reserve tanks, which will have a 200 million barrel capacity. In 2009, the country began construction of its phase-two SPR tanks, which Bernstein estimates will be filled between 150,00 to 250,000 bpd annually in the next five years.
As demand from China is slowing, OPEC has cut its global oil demand growth forecast for this year and 2012 to an estimate of 880,000 bpd this year, revised down from 1.06m bpd it predicted last month.