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TOKYO (Reuters) - The International Energy Agency (IEA) does not think rapid growth in Chinese oil demand will lead to a rally in crude oil prices next year, the agency's executive director said on Thursday.
That is partly because demand for oil from industrial nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) will fall, Nobuo Tanaka told Reuters in an interview.
"Our projection for supply for next year is fairly well," he said.
"We don't see much concern that an increase (in oil demand) in the non-OECD countries may create a problem for market situation for next year."
The agency's annual World Energy Outlook released earlier this month said if government policies stay as they are, Chinese demand will rise by 3.5 percent annually until 2030.
Chinese oil demand is expected to more than double to 16.3 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2030 from 7.7 million bpd in 2008.
The IEA thinks oil supply and demand next year will be largely in balance, he said.
Next year world oil demand is expected to average 86.2 million bpd, following stronger-than-expected preliminary data in North America and buoyant demand in non-OECD Asia and the Middle East, the IEA has said.
(Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Michael Watson)
