'Green' America may slash oil demand

Forget the myth of Chinese demand driving world oil consumption and pay closer attention to “green”policies in the U. S., the biggest oil consumer in the world, energy policy expert Amy Myers Jaffe said.

Major oil producer Saudi Arabia certainly is, said the director of the James A.Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University.

China’s 26 million cars represents only 10 per cent of all the vehicles hitting the roads in the United States, Jaffe said in Calgary Wednesday.

And new energy-saving policies being considered by President Barack Obama could shave 20 per cent off U. S. oil demand, she pointed out.

“The chances of there being some turnaround that will somehow reverse itself into an increase in U. S. oil demand is pretty unlikely,” Jaffe said at the CFA Investing in Energy Conference.

Calgary Herald