Europe and the United States will grow increasingly dependent on the Middle East for their imports of refined petroleum products over the next 10 years, the Financial Times said Tuesday.

According to figures compiled by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and oil analysts of Wood Mackenzie, ambitious refinery building plans in the Middle East are expected to propel the region's refining capacity above that of Russia and the former Soviet republics, where underinvestment has plagued the energy sectors.

Investment in expanding and building new refineries is forecast to boost capacity in the Middle East by 60 percent, which might make the region, particularly the Gulf, the main exporter of finished petroleum products, such as petrol, diesel, heating oil and jet fuel, said a study published by Wood Mackenzie.

OPEC, the biggest supplier of the crude oil, has detailed plans to increase its refining capacity by almost six million barrels a day -- or 50 percent -- in the next seven years.

Middle Eastern OPEC members, particularly Saudi Arabia, plan to build new refineries both domestically and in places near to their markets, especially in Asia.

OPEC Members, including the biggest oil producers in the Middle East as well as Venezuela, Nigeria and Indonesia, hold three quarters of the world's oil reserves.

U.S. President George W. Bush said in his State of the Union address two weeks ago that he wanted to reduce the dependence of his country on Middle East oil by 75 percent.

However, analysts believed that the United States was likely to become more dependent on the Middle East.

Source: Xinhua