DUBAI - Middle East oil demand is projected to grow by 4.5 per cent in 2010, outpacing a modest recovery in global energy demand, according to estimates by International Energy Agency (IEA).The estimate growth rate is twice the forecast of the Paris-based agency's global oil demand growth of 1.8 per cent for this year, the first growth year in three years after the recession cut fuel use.IEA said the oil demand growth in the Middle East would be largely driven by increased spending by oil producing countries to boost economies.

Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' (Opec) top two producers Saudi Arabia and Iran would drive more than half the Middle East's oil demand growth, the IEA said.Oil export income has fuelled expansion in the region, and given governments the cash to spend their way through the global economic downturn. Cheap subsidised fuel has encouraged rapid energy consumption growth that some regional governments have struggled to meet, IEA said.

IEA expects demand growth in 2010 in the region of 320,000 barrels per day (bpd) or 4.5 per cent, to reach a total of 7.55 million bpd, said Eduardo Lopez, a senior oil demand analyst at the IEA.According to consultancy PFC Energy, the UAE's product demand was pegged at around 304,000 bpd in 2010, up from 294,000 bpd in 2009.