The steep continued drop in Chinese oil use is one of the main reasons analysts are now predicting that world-wide crude consumption will decline both this year and next. The world's need for oil is ebbing so quickly that big producers from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran may not be able to trim production fast enough, leading to an oversupply that some analysts now say could keep prices below $50 a barrel for all of next year.The US Energy Information Administration said in December 2008 that it expected global oil demand to slump by 50,000 barrels a day this year and 450,000 barrels a day next year, representing the first year-to-year drop in world oil demand since 1983
