Oil consumption in developed western countries fell by 400,000 barrels per day in 2006, “the biggest decline in more than 20 years” according super-major oil company BP’s Statistical Review of World Energy.

The document said high prices did their work, with peaks to $78 per barrel and an average price of $65.14 for the year. The result was the least growth in oil sales since 2001.

World oil reserves, meanwhile, are still 15 percent higher than a decade ago, at 1,208 billion bbls. Global gas reserves were up slightly to 181 trillion cubic metres.

Opec output was up some 300,000 bpd in 2006, though less than half the alliance’s 10-year average. The biggest growth came from Russia, up by some 220,000 bpd, followed by Azerbaijan, Angola and Canada. Oil production in the UK fell for a seventh year.

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