Oil imports in Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (Oapec) member states reached $277 billion in 2009 compared to $585 billion in 2008.

The 50 per cent drop resulted from decrease in oil prices due to global economic crisis, said a report in our sister publication, Akhbar Al Khaleej.

For the first time since 1980, the international demand for oil reached 84.3 million barrels
per day last year, a 1.6 per cent drop compared to a 0.3 per cent fall in 2008, while oil supplies registered a 1.7 per cent decease, reaching 84.5 million barrels daily, according to Oapec sources, said the report.