The International Energy Agency says the world economic downturn is drastically cutting world oil consumption.
And the East Asia Pacific region is leading the charge downwards.
In a new report, the IEA says world oil consumption fell 0.3% last year and is forecast to fall a further 0.5% this year.
That would be the first two-year contraction since the early 1980s, and economic difficulties are getting the blame.
The report does not analyse New Zealand, but says this part of the world as a whole had the biggest drop in oil product demand in the year to November, down by 10.7%.
This was due mainly to plummeting oil demand in Japan and Korea.
