The OPEC oil cartel in its September report cut world oil demand to 83.49 million barrels of oil a day, from its 83.64 million barrels a day forecast in August. "This month's downward revision is, in part, the result of the latest data coming in from major consuming countries which shows low growth demand rates for the first half of the year, especially from USA and China. The initial effects of Hurricane Katrina have also been factored in; nonetheless it is important to emphasize that the revisions to demand growth are driven by factors such as high oil prices, higher domestic product prices in several developing nations as well as changes in policy being implemented in several Asian nations," it said. 2006 demand is expected to rise 1.8% to 85 million barrels of oil a day, it said.