INTERNATIONAL. Global oil consumption increased by 0.7% in 2011
to reach an all-time high of 88.03 million barrels per day,
according to new research conducted by the Worldwatch Institute
for its Vital Signs Online service. This rate of increase was
considerably slower than in 2010, when oil consumption rose by
3.3% following a decline of 1.3% in 2009 due to the global
financial crisis. China's oil consumption increased by 5.5% in
2011, and China accounted for about 85% of global net growth in
oil use. An increase in oil consumption of 5.7% in the former
Soviet Union contributed another 37% of net growth. But these
increases were offset by declines in the United States and
European Union, where oil consumption fell by 1.8 and 2.8
percent respectively, writes Worldwatch Climate and Energy
Research Associate Shakuntala Makhijani. The gap in oil
consumption between countries in the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development and all other countries narrowed
further in 2011, with the two groups respect